HMS Draku

Overview
Rating: 5th-rate Frigate

Class: Gallant-class Frigate

Shipyard: Port Royal, Jamaica

Launched: March 2, 1723

Refitted: N/A

Status: Serving in the Royal Caribbean Fleet

Armament
Total Guns: 48

Topdeck: 14 x 7lbs, 6 swivels 1/2lb

Gundeck: 26 x 15lbs

Aft Gundeck: 2 x 18lbs

Middle Gundeck: N/A

Upper Gundeck: N/A

Broadside Weight: 244lbs

Crew: 350

Dimensions
Gundeck Length: 204 feet

Breadth: 40 feet

Depth in Hold: 21 feet

Commanders
Current Captain: CDR Elliott Drake, Esquire

Previous Captains: N/A

Ship History
HMS Draku is a Gallant-class frigate which was constructed by the royal shipwrights in Port Royal, Jamaica in an effort to modernize the Royal Navy's Caribbean Fleet, in response to similar efforts by the French and the Spanish. As this arms race continues, there is more of a chance of these powerful warships falling into the hands of pirates. Because of these escalating threats, the HMS Draku was commissioned and her keel was laid down in January of 1723. The ship was completed three months later and pressed into service under the command of Commander Elliott Drake of the Saint George Squadron of the White. Commander Drake transfered his flag and the vessel's christening on March 2, 1723 with a small ceremony on the Royal Naval Docks in Port Royal.