Hector was launched in 1755 and fought in the American Revolutionary War during which she captured two ships of the British Royal Navy on 14 August 1778.

[1] Returning to Brest on 23 November with 5,000 sick aboard, she spread typhus to the town;[2] the ensuing epidemic caused 10,000 fatalities.

[4] Hector then took part in the Battle of Grenada on 6 July 1779 and in the Siege of Savannah, before returning to Brest, arriving on 10 December 1779.

On 1 September 1780, she departed Brest under Louis Augustin de Monteclerc for a cruise, returning on 31 December.

[1] The British took her to Jamaica, where she was repaired and recommissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Hector.

[7] Much damaged in this action and after suffering the 1782 Central Atlantic hurricane of 17 September, she sank on 4 October 1782.