HMS Phoebe (1795)

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HMS Phoebe was a 36-gun fifth-rate 18-pounder frigate of the British Royal Navy. As completed, she measured 142ft 9in on the gundeck (119ft 0in keel) x 38ft 3in breadth x 13ft 5 1/2in depth in hold, with a tonnage of 926 8/94 burthen. She mounted 26 x 18-pounder guns on the upper deck, 8 x 9-pounder guns and 6 x 32-pounder carronades on the quarterdeck, and 2 x 9-pounder guns and 4 x 32-pounder carronades on the forecastle, with a complement of 264 men.

She was one of four frigates ordered on 24 May 1794 to a design by Sir John Henslow, Surveyor of the Navy. The contract for the first ship was placed with the Thames-side yard of John Dudman, where the keel was laid in June 1794. Named Phoebe on 26 February 1795, the frigate was launched on 24 September 1795 at Deptford on the Thames, and the frigate was then moved to Deptford Dockyard, where she was completed on 23 December.

The Phoebe was first commissioned in October 1795 under Captain Robert Barlow. During the initial stages of her career, Phoebe saw active service in the Mediterranean, capturing the French 36-gun La Nereide in 1797. Captain Thomas Baker took over command in January 1801. On 19 February 1801 she encountered the French 40-gun L'Africaine, which was intending to transport 400 troops as reinforcements for a French invasion force in Egypt. L'Africaine surrendered to the Phoebe after sustaining heavy casualties.

The Phoebe was involved in the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, commanded by Captain The Hon. Thomas Bladen Capel. She saw further service after Trafalgar, including in the Pacific and the War of 1812 against the United States. While operating in the Pacific against American ships, Phoebe, in company with the sloop-of-war Cherub, under the command of Captain James Hillyar who had orders to capture the USS Essex "at all costs", captured the 36-gun USS Essex in Valparaíso on 28 March 1814.