Courageux, 1761
Type: 3rd rate ; Armament 74
Taken : 1761 ; Disposal date or year : 18 Dec 1796
Disposal Details : Wrecked near the foot of Ape's Hill, Straits of Gibraltar : crew, except 124, perished ; Captain B. Hallowell (see also below).
BM: 1721 tons
Complement: 633 (1796)
Notes:

Apr / May 1793 departed under the command of Captain Hon. William Waldegrave, as a part of a squadron for the Mediterranean Fleet, then to be based off Toulon.

Sep 1793 Sent from Toulon to Corsica, with a squadron under Commodore Robert Linzee, with a view to supporting a supposed insurrection.

1 Oct 1793 Unsuccessful attack on Forneilli.

18 Dec 1793 Toulon. The Courageux having, been aground off Cape Corse and hove down in the basin, was warped out without any rudder, which was afterwards brought off, slung alongside the launch and other boats, and was shipped in the road.

9 Mar 1795, the Mediterranean fleet departed from Leghorn, sighting the French fleet the following day. At daylight on the 13th Adm Hotham sent out the signal for a general chase which ended the following day with the capture of the Ca-Ira and Censeur and the fleets heading off in opposite directions. [Captain Augustus Montgomery].

14 Jun 1795 the fleet, whilst on a cruise, was joined by a squadron from Gibraltar and England off Minorca.

8 Jul 1795, the fleet, at anchor at in San-Fiorenzo bay, once aware that the French fleet was close by, gave chase. It was sighted on the 13th and later the order was given for the general chase, but apart from the loss of a 74 by the French the result was inconclusive and resulted in not a little criticism, the consequence perhaps being Admiral Hotham's resignation on 1 Nov 1795. [Captain Benjamin Hallowell.]

6 Aug 1795, Admiral Hotham put to sea on a cruise, sighting the French fleet in Toulon road.

10 Dec 1796 At Gibraltar. The Courageux, 74, commanded by Lieutenant John Burrows, in the absence of Captain Benjamin Hallowell, who was on shore, was driven from her moorings and eventually struck on the rocks at the foot of Ape's hill (Mons Abyla), on the Barbary Coast.