[citation needed] She was launched at Deptford Wharf on 2 May 1798[2] and served in 1800-1801 as the flagship of Sir John Borlase Warren, initially in the English Channel.

On 1 July 1800, Renown, Fisgard and Defence, with the hired armed cutter Lord Nelson in company, were in Bourneuf Bay when they sent in their boats to attack a French convoy at Île de Noirmoutier.

The cutting out party also burned some 15 merchant vessels loaded with corn and supplies for the French fleet at Brest.

Because Renown served in the navy's Egyptian campaign (8 March to 2 September 1801), her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty issued in 1847 to all surviving claimants.

In the story, the ship's mad captain is injured after falling through a hatch in mysterious circumstances, and the junior officers must take over on adventures in the West Indies.