At the start of the
War of Jenkins' Ear in 1739, the Royal Navy had a shortage of small combatant vessels to undertake the patrol and escort role; basically their only suitable vessels were the twelve 200-ton sloops built in the period from 1728 to 1732 in the Royal Dockyards, each armed with eight 3-pounder or 4-pounder guns. A large expansion in the number of sloops was urgently needed to cope with the requirements of convoy duties. Initially, three more sloops of 200 tons were ordered in 1740 as replacements for earlier sloops of the same names. A design was produced by the Surveyor of the Navy, and contracts were offered to merchant builders in the
River Thames area. The first two were contracted at a price of £7-15-0d per ton (or £1,550 for 200 tons) and the third at a price of £7-7-6d per ton (or £1,475 for 200 tons). After launching all three vessels were taken to
Deptford Dockyard for completion and
fitting out there, at an additional cost of £1,593-8-8d for
Drake, £1,505-11-11d for
Hawk, and £1,626-15-6d for
Swift. == Vessels ==