HMS Modeste was a 64-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...

. She was previously the Modeste, of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

, launched in 1759 and captured later that year.

French career and capture

Modeste was laid down at Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 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 Admiral Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran

Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran

Jean-François de La Clue-Sabran was a French Admiral best known for his command of the French fleet in the Mediterranean Sea during the Seven Years' War.-Seven Years War:...

's fleet in the port. The Seven Years' War

Seven Years' War

The Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...

 was being fought at the time, and the Toulon fleet was being blockaded by Admiral Edward Boscawen

Edward Boscawen

Admiral Edward Boscawen, PC was an Admiral in the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament for the borough of Truro, Cornwall. He is known principally for his various naval commands throughout the 18th Century and the engagements that he won, including the Siege of Louisburg in 1758 and Battle of Lagos...

. 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 of Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

. The ensuing Battle of Lagos

Battle of Lagos

The naval Battle of Lagos between Britain and France took place on August 19, 1759 during the Seven Years' War off the coasts of Spain and Portugal, and is named after Lagos, Portugal. For the British, it was part of the Annus Mirabilis of 1759.-Origins:...

, 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

French ship Téméraire (1749)

Téméraire was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched in 1749. captured Téméraire at the Battle of Lagos on 18 August 1759. She was taken into the Royal Navy as the Third Rate HMS Temeraire....

 and Centaure

HMS Centaur (1759)

Centaure was a 74-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, launched at Toulon in 1757.The Royal Navy captured Centaure at the Battle of Lagos on 18 August 1759, and commissioned her as the Third Rate HMS Centaur.-Loss:...

.

Taken as a prize into Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, she was surveyed there that December, and was purchased for the navy on 7 January 1760 for the sum of £17,068.18.1½. 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

Cádiz

Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia....

 on 17 June 1761, while in company with . Modeste then sailed to the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

 in October 1761 and was present at the reduction of Martinique

British expedition against Martinique

The British expedition against Martinique was a military action from January to February 1762, as part of the Seven Years' War.- Prelude :...

 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

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 in early 1771 and was recommissioned as a guard ship

Guard ship

A guard ship is a warship stationed at some port or harbour to act as a guard, and in former times in the Royal Navy to receive the men impressed for service...

 under Captain John Wheelock. She went out to Jamaica

Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...

 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 at Portsmouth, between July and August 1778. She saw out the rest of the American War of Independence and most of the French Revolutionary Wars

French Revolutionary Wars

The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...

in this state, until finally being broken up at Portsmouth in August 1800.