HMS Modeste (1793)

Engraving by Nicolas Ozanne showing the capture of Modeste in the harbour of Genoa
History
France
Name	Modeste
Builder	Toulon
Laid down	February 1785
Launched	18 March 1786
Completed	January 1787
Captured	By the Royal Navy on 17 October 1793
Great Britain
Name	HMS Modeste
Acquired	17 October 1793
Honours and awards	Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Egypt"[1]
Fate	Broken up in June 1814
General characteristics
Class and type	36-gun Magicienne-class frigate
Displacement	1,100 tons (French)
Tons burthen	940 35⁄94 (bm)
Length	143 ft 8 in (43.8 m) (overall) 118 ft 3 in (36.0 m) (keel)
Beam	38 ft 8 in (11.8 m)
Depth of hold	12 ft 1+1⁄2 in (3.70 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Complement	270
Armament	French service Upper deck: 26 × 12-pounder guns Spar deck: 6 × 6-pounder guns British service Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 14 × 32-pounder carronades Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns + 2 × 32-pounder carronades

HMS Modeste was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She had previously been a ship of the French Navy under the name Modeste. Launched in France in 1786, she served during the first actions of the French Revolutionary Wars until being captured while in harbour at Genoa, in circumstances disputed by the French and British, and which created a diplomatic incident. Taken into British service she spent the rest of the French Revolutionary and most of the Napoleonic Wars under the white ensign. She served with distinction in the East Indies, capturing several privateers and enemy vessels, including the French corvette Iéna. She also saw service in a variety of roles, as a troopship, a receiving ship, and a floating battery, until finally being broken up in 1814, as the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close.