HMS

Her Majesty's Ship

Her or His Majesty's Ship is the ship prefix used for ships of the navy in some monarchies, either formally or informally.-HMS:* In the British Royal Navy, it refers to the king or queen of the United Kingdom as appropriate at the time...

 Fame was a 74-gun third rate ship of the line

Ship of the line

A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed from the 17th through the mid-19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as the line of battle, in which two columns of opposing warships would manoeuvre to bring the greatest weight of broadside guns to bear...

 of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

, launched at Deptford

Deptford

Deptford is a district of south London, England, located on the south bank of the River Thames. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne, and from the mid 16th century to the late 19th was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Navy Dockyards.Deptford and the docks are...

 on 1 January 1759. She was designed by William Bateley, and was the only ship ever built to her draught.

In 1762, while in company with , she captured the French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 10-gun ship Ecureuil.

In 1778, commanded by Captain Stephen Colby, she proceeded to the North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

n station in a fleet of 14 ships commanded by Vice-Admiral the Hon. John Byron

John Byron

Vice Admiral The Hon. John Byron, RN was a Royal Navy officer. He was known as Foul-weather Jack because of his frequent bad luck with weather.-Early career:...

 with his flag in .

On 6 July 1779, commanded by Captain John Butchart, Fame took part in the Battle of Grenada

Battle of Grenada

The Battle of Grenada took place on 6 July 1779 during the American War of Independence in the West Indies between the British Royal Navy and the French Navy.-Origins:...

 against the French. The French fleet, under Admiral D’Estaing

Charles Hector, comte d'Estaing

Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, comte d'Estaing was a French general, and admiral. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of war of the British during the Seven Years' War...

, consisted of 25 ships of the line and several frigate

Frigate

A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...

s. The British

Kingdom of Great Britain

The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...

 fleet, under Vice-Admiral Byron, had 21 ships of the line and 1 frigate. The French were anchored off Georgetown on the south-west of the island, and the English approached during the night. D’Estaing weighed at 4 am and Byron chased. The British ships attacked in utter disorder and confusion. Fame and three other ships got separated from the main body, and were very badly mauled. The French lost no ships and eventually hauled off. The British lost 183 killed and 346 wounded. Fame lost 4 killed and 9 wounded. The French lost 190 killed and 759 wounded. This action reflected no credit on either side.

In 1782, commanded by Captain Robert Barbor, she was one of a fleet of 36 ships of the line under Admiral Sir George Rodney, who flew his flag in . They met in the West Indies between Dominica

Dominica

Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...

 and Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe

Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...

 a French fleet of 33 ships of the line commanded by Vice-Admiral Comte de Grasse with his flag in Ville de Paris

French ship Ville de Paris (1764)

The Ville de Paris was a large three-decker French ship of the line that became famous as the flagship of the Comte de Grasse during the American Revolutionary War....

. The fighting was spread over several days, and the French were defeated.

The fleets first met on 9 April, and De Grasse at once detached his convoy into Guadeloupe. Two actions took place this day, one lasting an hour, and the other lasting an hour and a half. The British received some injuries and lay till that night for repairs. The French fled and the British pursued during the three following days.

The fleets met again on 12 April, and the French fired the first shot at 8 am. By 9 am the action was general, and the British fleet broke the French line in three places. The action was brought to a conclusion at 6 p.m. by the surrender of the French flagship Ville de Paris. Sir George Rodney’s conduct in not following up the victory by a pursuit was much criticised. Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood said that the 20 French ships would have been captured had the commander-in-Chief chased. The British lost 243 killed and 816 wounded, and 2 captains out of 36 were killed. The French loss in killed and wounded has never been stated, but must have been considerably higher than that of the British; of captains alone, 6 were killed out of 30. The British lost no ships, whilst the French lost five captured, and three crippled ships were dispatched to seek safety in friendly harbours.

On 17 April Rear-Admiral Sir Samuel Hood was sent in pursuit of the enemy. He captured four French ships, two of which were crippled and in need of a secure harbour. Sir George Rodney was created a peer

Peerage

The Peerage is a legal system of largely hereditary titles in the United Kingdom, which constitute the ranks of British nobility and is part of the British honours system...

 with £2000 a year settled on the title in perpetuity for this victory.

Explorer George Vancouver

George Vancouver

Captain George Vancouver RN was an English officer of the British Royal Navy, best known for his 1791-95 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern Pacific Coast regions, including the coasts of contemporary Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon...

 served as Lieutenant on this Fame under Captain Robert Barbor during this engagement. Vancouver later went on captain his own ship, , on a voyage of discovery to the Pacific Northwest

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...

 in search of the Northwest passage.

In December 1799, Fame was renamed Guilford and fitted as a prison ship

Prison ship

A prison ship, historically sometimes called a prison hulk, is a vessel used as a prison, often to hold convicts awaiting transportation to penal colonies. This practice was popular with the British government in the 18th and 19th centuries....

. She was eventually sold out of the service in 1814.