HMS Janus was the Dutch fifth-rate Argo, built at the dockyard of the Amsterdam Admiralty (Naval District), and launched in 1790.

[3] On 12 May 1796 at daybreak the 28-gun Pegasus and the brig-sloop Sylph brought Duncan the news that a Dutch squadron consisting of the 36-gun frigate Argo and three brigs had departed Flickeroe, Norway, bound for the Texel.

Bissett meanwhile sailed westwards until he encountered Rear-Admiral Sir Hyde Parker's squadron off Môle-Saint-Nicolas early on the morning of 15 April.

Knowing that Harmonie could not escape, her officers drove her aground and set her on fire; eventually her powder magazine exploded, destroying her completely.

[2] The Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy offered "Janus, of 32 guns and 700 tons", lying at Deptford, for sale on 21 February 1811.

[2] This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.