The Worcester was a 48-gun Third rate frigate built for the navy of the Commonwealth of England at Woolwich Dockyard by Master Shipwright Andrew Burrell (the son of William Burrell, the leading shipwright of King James VI and I) and was launched in 1651).

After the Stuart Restoration in June 1660, the ship became part of the Royal Navy and was renamed HMS Dunkirk after the location of the Battle of the Dunes (1658).

She was re-classed as a Fourth rate ship of the linein 1695-96, and then rebuilt by Admiralty Order of 20 September 1703 under a contract with Sir Henry Johnson at his shipyard at Blackwall Yard, being re-launched in December 1704.

[1] On 12 September 1729 Dunkirk was ordered to be taken to pieces at Plymouth Dockyard, after which her 'material remains' (i.e. usable timbers) were transported to Portsmouth Dockyard, where she was "rebuilt" (actually a legal fiction) by Master Shipwright Joseph Allin, still as a 60-gun fourth rate but to the specifications of the 1719 Establishment.

[2] Dunkirk took part in the Battle of Toulon in February 1744, and was finally broken up by March 1749 (under Admiralty Order of 8 November 1748).