HMS Laurel (1779)

History
Great Britain
Name:	HMS Laurel
Ordered:	30 April 1778
Builder:	Thomas Raymond, Chapel, Southampton
Laid down:	3 June 1778
Launched:	27 October 1779
Completed:	4 January 1780 (at Portsmouth Dockyard)
Commissioned:	October 1779
Fate:	Wrecked at Martinique 10 October 1780
General characteristics
Class and type:	28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate
Tons burthen:	601  70⁄94 (bm)
Length:	120 ft 8.5 in (36.792 m) (overall) 99 ft 6.75 in (30.3467 m) (keel)
Beam:	33 ft 8.5 in (10.3 m)
Depth of hold:	11 ft (3.4 m)
Sail plan:	Full-rigged ship
Complement:	200 officers and men
Armament:	28 guns comprising Upper deck: 24 × 9-pounder guns Quarter deck: 4 x 6-pounder guns + 4 x 18-pounder carronades Forecastle: 2 x 18-pounder carronades 12 × swivel guns

HMS Laurel was a 28-gun Enterprise-class sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. The Laurel was first commissioned in October 1779 under the command of Captain Thomas Lloyd. She sailed for the Leeward Islands on 13 April 1780, but was wrecked in the "Great Hurricane" at Martinique on 11 October 1780 with the loss of virtually all hands, including Lloyd.

References

• Robert Gardiner, The First Frigates, Conway Maritime Press, London 1992. ISBN 0-85177-601-9.
• David Lyon, The Sailing Navy List, Conway Maritime Press, London 1993. ISBN 0-85177-617-5.
• Rif Winfield, British Warships in the Age of Sail, 1714 to 1792, Seaforth Publishing, London 2007. ISBN 978-1-84415-700-6.