Nineteen ships and a shore establishment of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

have been named HMS ''Drake'' after Sir

Francis Drake Sir Francis Drake ( – 28 January 1596) was an English explorer, sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer, and politician. Drake is best known for his circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition, from 1577 to 1580 ...

or after the

drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name ...

: * was a 16-gun

sixth rate In the rating system of the Royal Navy used to categorise sailing warships, a sixth-rate was the designation for small warships mounting between 20 and 28 carriage-mounted guns on a single deck, sometimes with smaller guns on the upper works a ...

launched in 1653 and sold in 1691. * was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1694 and wrecked later that year. * was a 2-gun

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

launched in 1705. She was rebuilt in 1727 and was sold in 1749. * was a 14-gun

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

launched in 1705, rebuilt in 1729 and broken up in 1740. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1736, converted into a

bomb vessel A bomb vessel, bomb ship, bomb ketch, or simply bomb was a type of wooden sailing naval ship. Its primary armament was not cannons (long guns or carronades) – although bomb vessels carried a few cannons for self-defence – but mortars mounted ...

in 1748 and sold in 1755. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1741 and wrecked in 1742. The wreck was sold in 1748. * was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1743 and sold in 1748. * HMS ''Drake'' (1770) was a 12-gun sloop launched as the civilian ''Marquis of Granby''. She was purchased in 1770 and briefly named HMS ''Drake''. She was renamed HMS ''Resolution'' in 1771 and served

James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

on his second and third voyages of discovery in the Pacific. She was captured in 1782 by the French ship . In July 1782 the French sent her to Manila. In 1789 she may have been renamed ''Général Conway'', in November 1790 ''Amis Réunis'', and in 1792 ''Liberté''. * was a 14-gun sloop launched as the civilian ''Resolution''. She was purchased in 1777 and captured in 1778 by the American sloop . * was a 14-gun

brig-sloop In the 18th century and most of the 19th, a sloop-of-war in the Royal Navy was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. The rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above; thus, the term ''sloop-of-war'' enc ...

launched in 1779 and condemned in 1800. * was a 14-gun brig-sloop, formerly the French

privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...

''Tigre''. She was captured in 1798 by and wrecked in 1804. * HMS ''Drake'' (1804) was a 16-gun sloop, launched in 1799 for the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Sou ...

as the civilian ''Earl of Mornington''. She was purchased in 1804 and broken up in 1808. * was a 10-gun launched in 1808 and wrecked in 1822. * was a mortar vessel launched in 1834 as a dockyard

lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...

and converted in 1854. She was renamed ''MV 1'' in 1855, followed by HMS ''Sheppey'' after being returned to a lighter in 1856. She was broken up in 1867. * was a launched in 1856 and sold in 1859. * was a cutter, formerly named ''YC 1'' and acquired and renamed in 1870. She had previously been . She was broken up in 1875. * HMS ''Drake'' (1888) was a composite screw gunboat launched in 1875 as . She was renamed HMS ''Drake'' when she became a

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

in 1888. She was renamed ''WV 29'' in 1893, and was renamed HMS ''Drake'' in 1906 before being sold later that year. * was a

armoured cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast en ...

launched in 1901 and sunk in 1917. * HMS ''Drake'' (1934) was previously the

monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...

. She was launched in 1915, became a base ship and was renamed HMS ''Vivid'' in 1922, HMS ''Drake'' in 1934 and HMS ''Alaunia II'' in 1947. She was broken up in 1957. * HMS ''Drake'' (shore establishment) is the name now given to

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the R ...

. From 1934 to the early 21st century, it referred only to the naval barracks within the base.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake Royal Navy ship names Francis Drake