HMS ''Modeste'' was a 64-gun third rate

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...

of the Royal Navy. She was previously the 64-gun ''Modeste'', of the French Navy, launched in 1759 and captured later that year.

French career and capture

''Modeste'' was laid down at Toulon in April 1756 to a design by Noël Pomet, and was launched on 12 February 1759. Work on her was completed by May 1759, and she joined Chef d'escadre Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran's fleet in the port. The Seven Years' War was being fought at the time, and the Toulon fleet was being blockaded by Admiral Edward Boscawen. Taking advantage of the British fleet's departure for supplies, the French left port and sailed into the Atlantic. There they were chased and finally brought to battle by Boscawen off Lagos, Portugal. The ensuing Battle of Lagos, fought between 18 and 19 August 1759, saw the defeat of the French fleet, with two of their ships destroyed and three taken. Captured alongside ''Modeste'' were the 74-gun ships ''Téméraire'' and ''Centaure''. Taken as a prize into Portsmouth, she was surveyed there that December, and was purchased for the navy on 7 January 1760 for the sum of £17,068.18.1. She was named HMS ''Modeste'', retaining her French name, on 11 January and was added to the navy lists. Having been commissioned into the navy, she underwent a refit in June and July 1760.

British career

''Modeste'' was commissioned under her first commander, Captain Henry Speke, in April 1760, though command soon passed to Captain Robert Walsingham. Walsingham went out to the Mediterranean and was involved in naval operations there, capturing the 32-gun ''Bouffonne'' off Cadiz at the

action of 17 July 1761 The action of 17 July 1761 was a naval engagement fought off the Spanish port of Cádiz between a British Royal Navy squadron and a smaller French Navy squadron during the Seven Years' War. British fleets had achieved dominance in European water ...

, while in company with . ''Modeste'' then sailed to the

Leeward Islands french: Îles-Sous-le-Vent , image_name = , image_caption = ''Political'' Leeward Islands. Clockwise: Antigua and Barbuda, Guadeloupe, Saint kitts and Nevis. , image_alt = , locator_map = , location = Caribbean SeaNorth Atlantic Ocean , coor ...

in October 1761 and was present at the reduction of Martinique in January and February 1762. Captain John Hollwall took command later that year and ''Modeste'' remained in the Leeward Islands until returning to Britain to be paid off in March 1764. She spent the next few years laid up, being occasionally surveyed and repaired as required. She was fitted out at Portsmouth in early 1771 and was recommissioned as a

guard ship A guard ship is a warship assigned as a stationary guard in a port or harbour, as opposed to a coastal patrol boat, which serves its protective role at sea. Royal Navy In the Royal Navy of the eighteenth century, peacetime guard ships were usual ...

under Captain John Wheelock. She went out to Jamaica in June 1771, but returned to Britain to be paid off in October 1772. She was fitted out for her final role, a

receiving ship A hulk is a ship that is afloat, but incapable of going to sea. Hulk may be used to describe a ship that has been launched but not completed, an abandoned wreck or shell, or to refer to an old ship that has had its rigging or internal equipmen ...

at Portsmouth, between July and August 1778. She saw out the rest of the

American War of Independence The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

and most of the French Revolutionary Wars in this state, until finally being broken up at Portsmouth in August 1800.

Notes

References

*Lavery, Brian (2003) ''The Ship of the Line - Volume 1: The development of the battlefleet 1650-1850.'' Conway Maritime Press. . * {{DEFAULTSORT:Modeste (1759) Ships of the line of the French Navy Ships of the line of the Royal Navy 1759 ships Ships built in France Captured ships Vaillant-class ships of the line