HMS Camel (1776)
1777 sixth-rate frigate

HMS Camel was the mercantile Yorkshire, which the Royal Navy purchased for use as a sixth-rate frigate. She captured a few merchant vessels in the West Indies, but spent most of her service escorting convoys across the Atlantic. She was converted to an armed transport in 1782–83. The Navy sold her in 1784.
Merchantman
Yorkshire appeared in Lloyd's Register for 1777 with T.Hammond, master and owner, and trade Whitby transport. She had been launched at Whitby in 1776.
Royal Navy
The Navy purchased Yorkshire in 1776, renamed her Camel, and had her undergo fitting at Deptford. Commander William Finch commissioned her in November. Finch received promotion to post captain in March 1777 and on 27 March sailed her to the Leeward Islands. She arrived at New York on 28 May with the bulk of her convoy.
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