She had served for ten years as the Princesa for the Spanish Navy, until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession.

Her design and fighting qualities excited considerable interest, and sparked a series of increases in the dimensions of British warships.

She went on to serve under a number of commanders in several theatres of the War of the Austrian Succession, including the Mediterranean, where she was at the Battle of Toulon, and in the Caribbean and off the North American coast.

Princesa was built in 1730 to the design of Ciprian Autran in the shipyard of El Astillero, Guarnizo (Santander) in Cantabria,[1] being rated at 70 guns (26 × 24-pdrs; 28 × 18-pdrs; 16 × 8-pdrs).

[3][failed verification] The British came up and found her to be Princesa, now carrying 64 guns and a crew of 650 under the command of Don Pablo Agustin de Aguirre.

'[5] After a chase lasting two and a half hours, the British were able to come alongside and exchange broadsides, which eventually left the Spanish ship disabled.

Princesa caused serious damages to Lenox and obliged Kent to leave the battle, but could not face the encounter against Orford and surrendered.

[4] She was described as the finest ship in the Spanish Navy, with her high build allowing her to open her lower gunports in conditions in which her opponents could not.

[8] The Admiralty finally had the ammunition to rouse Parliament from its complacency and fund a series of increases in British warship dimensions.

[2] After a period laid up and inactive, she was reported to be unfit for service on 15 November 1755; she was converted to a hulk at Portsmouth between August 1759 and July 1761.