This is the HMS Leopard from "Desolation Island." The Leopard was a real ship, but the events of the book never happened to her. She is most famous, or infamous, for the "Chesapeake-Leopard Affair." Before the War of 1812, the Royal Navy was stopping American ships and forcing sailors into service--a process known as "impressment." The Leopard stopped the Chesapeake and demanded that she hand over sailors. When the Chesapeake refused, the 50-gun Leopard fired a full broadside into the 36-gun Chesapeake. The act infuriated Americans and was one of the events that led to the War of 1812.