Nightingale was a fifth-rate warship of the Commonwealth of England's naval forces, one of four such ships built under the 1651 Programme (the other three were , and ). She was built under contract at William Bright's shipyard at Bermondsey, and was launched in July 1651. Her length on the keel was for tonnage calculation. The breadth was with a depth in hold of . The tonnage was thus 289<small></small> bm tons. She was completed at an initial contract cost of ã1,878.10.0d (or ã6.10.0d per ton for the 289 tons bm).
She was originally armed with 22 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins on the single gundeck and 4 sakers on the quarterdeck, but by 1653 she had 26 guns (seemingly 4 more sakers added). During the First Anglo-Dutch War she took part in the Battle of the Kentish Knock on 28 September 1652 and the Battle of Portland in February 1653. By 1665 she carried 30 guns, comprising 18 demi-culverins, 10 sakers and 2 3-pounders. In the Third Anglo-Dutch War she participated in the Battle of Solebay on 28 May 1672 and the Battle of Texel on 11 August 1673. On 16 January 1674 the Nightingale grounded on the Goodwin Sands off Deal, Kent in a gale and was wrecked.