HMS Indefatigable was one of the Ardent-class 64-gun third-rate ships-of-the-line designed by Sir Thomas Slade in 1761 for the Royal Navy.

She took some 27 prizes, alone or in company, and the Admiralty authorised the issue of four clasps to the Naval General Service Medal in 1847 to any surviving members of her crews from the respective actions.

Indefatigable was ordered on 3 August 1780 (long after Slade's death), and her keel was laid down in May 1781 at the Bucklers Hard shipyard in Hampshire owned by Henry Adams.

[5] On 9 March 1795, Indefatigable, Concorde, and Jason captured numerous French prizes: Temeraire, Minerve, Gentille, Regeneration, and a brig and sloop of unknown names.

[9] On 20 March 1796, Indefatigable and her squadron chased three French corvettes, of which the Volage of 26 guns ran ashore under a battery at the mouth of the Loire.

[10] Between 11 and 21 March Indefatigable's squadron captured the vessels Favorite Sultana, Friends, Providence, Four Marys, Aimable Justine, and Nouvelle Union.

[1] On 12 June, Indefatigable, Amazon, Concorde, Revolutionaire, and Phoebe took two French brigs off Ushant – the Trois Couleurs and the Blonde (alias Betsey) – after a chase of 24 hours.

[b] Each was under the command of an ensign de vaisseau and both vessels had left Brest two days earlier for a six-week cruise, but had not yet taken any prizes.

[21] On 1 October, Indefatigable, Amazon, Révolutionnaire, Phoebe, and Jason shared in the capture of the Vrow Delenea Maria.

From her, he learned that there were two privateers around Corunna, one of which had captured a brig from Lisbon with a cargo of bale goods two days earlier.

The Action of 13 January 1797 was an engagement off the Penmarks involving the two frigates Indefatigable and Amazon against the French Droits de l'Homme, a 74-gun ship of the line.

On 21 July, the Duke of York returned, having chased a French privateer lugger into the hands of Lieutenant Bray, who commanded the Revenue Cutter Hind.

She was 36 days out of Brest and, during that time, had captured only one ship, a large American vessel named the Providence which had a cargo of cotton and sugar.

[35] Her prize was the Canada, John Sewell Master, which had been sailing from Jamaica to London, having stopped in Charlestown, with a cargo of sugar, rum, and coffee.

[35] Indefatigable captured the French corvette Vaillante while cruising in the Bay of Biscay on 8 August, after a chase of 24 hours, which was under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau La Porte.

She had left Rochefort on 1 August, and the Île de Ré on the 4th, where she had picked up 25 banished priests, 27 convicts, and a Madame Rovere and family, all of whom she was taking to Cayenne.

[39] On 14 January 1799, Indefatigable recaptured Argo, Rich, master, which had been sailing from Gothenburg for Boston when a French privateer had captured her.

[43] On 9 October 1799 Indefatigable, Diamond, Cambrian, Stag, Nymphe and Cerberus shared in the capture of the Spanish brig Nostra Senora de la Solidad.

[45] Then on 6 January 1800 Indefatigable shared with Defiance, Unicorn, Sirius and Stag in the capture of the French brig Ursule.

[52] Indefatigable and Fisgard shared the prize money with Boadicea, Diamond, Urania, and the hired armed schooner Earl St Vincent.

On 9 August 1804 Indefatigable was in sight when HMS Nautilus recaptured the West Indiaman William Heathcote off Bayonne.

Spain was a neutral country at the time, but was showing strong signs of declaring war in alliance with Napoleonic France.

She was armed with 18 guns, had a crew of 86 men, and was under the command of Monsieur Louis Francois Hector Fourré, lieutenant de vaisseau.

[60] The vessels claiming prize money included Pilchard and the hired armed lugger Nile, in addition to the various ships of the line and frigates.

[2] About a year later, on 19 October 1806, Indefatigable, Hazard, and Atalante captured the chasse marees Achille, Jenny, and Marianne.

[76] Four months later, on 6 May Indefatigable captured two French chasse marees, Camilla and Bonne Rencontre; Scipion and Piercer were in company.

[80] Then in June 1812, under Captain John Fyffe, Indefatigable was on the South American station, where she visited the Galápagos Islands.

When news of the outbreak of the War of 1812 reached Britain, the Royal Navy seized all American vessels then in British ports.

Indefatigable was among the Royal Navy vessels then lying at Spithead or Portsmouth and so entitled to share in the grant for the American ships Belleville, Janus, Aeos, Ganges, and Leonidas seized there on 31 July 1812.

[83] When the gun-brig Hearty detained the Prussian vessel Friede on 29 September, Indefatigable, Desiree, Primrose, Cretan, Drake, were either in company or sharing by agreement.