Sceptre, 1781
Type: 3rd rate ; Armament 64
Launched : 1781 ; Disposal date or year : Wrecked 5 Dec 1799 in Table Bay, Cape of Good Hope ; 291 of the crew perished. Captain Valentine Edwards.
Notes:

14 Jul 1793 departed with the Channel fleet from St. Helen's. On the 18th to the west of the Scilly Isles and subsequent manoeuvres.

31 Jul 1793 briefly sighted, but was unable to close the French fleet ; returned to Torbay on 10 Aug.

23 Aug 1793 the Channel Fleet departed to escort the Newfoundland trade, West Indian convoys in home waters.

27 Oct 1793 departed in search of the French fleet and squadrons. 18 Nov brief skirmish with a French squadron : by mid-December the fleet had returned to Spithead.

31 May 1794, the Irresistible, Belliqueux, Sceptre, Captain Augustus Brine, Europa, three frigates, and three sloops, from Cape Nicolas-Mole, arrived off Port-au-Prince with troops.

1 Jun 1794, the Belliqueux, Sceptre and Penelope bombard the fort, with additional support from the Europa and Irresistible, whilst troops were being landed under the supervision of Captain Thomas Affleck, of the Fly sloop.

17 Aug 1796 Simon's bay, Cape of Good Hope. Was present at the capitulation of the Dutch squadron, greatly out-gunned by a much larger British squadron.

29 May 1798, present when the Danish ship Christianus Septimus from Batavia to Copenhagen with coffee and sugar was detained on the Cape of Good Hope station : under trial.

7 Feb 1799 reports from the Cape of Good Hope, advise that 2000 troops were to embark in the Sceptre, armed en flute, and six transports, on the 26th November, for India.

19 Sep 1799 with a convoy in company, the ship's boats captured and burnt the French privateer brig �clair, from the Mauritius, 12 guns, and 83 men, off the Island of Rodriguez, in the Indian Ocean, lately cruising off Brazil.

5 Nov 1799 "Wreck Of The Sceptre Man Of War. The following is a list of the Officers of the Sceptre who were either saved from the wreck of that ship on the 5 Nov 1799 or were on shore at the time of the accident :- Lieutenants James Pengelly, Thomas Tuder Tucker, Hon. Alexander Jones and Douglas, of the Marines ; John Bury, Surgeon ; J. Dredge, Purser, Lieutenant N. J. Willoughby, invalid; R, Smart; Wm Dredge, Invalid : B. W. M'Gibbon, IWarines, ditto; Mr. James Shaw, Master's Mate ; James Sphynx, Midshipman ; J. H. Buddie, Midshipman; Stephen Popham, Midshipman; James Pettel, Midshipman ; Chas. W. Chalmers, Midshipman; John Thompson, Midshipman; the Rev. Thomas Tringham, Chaplain; Mr. Bossell, Carpenttr : and 109 Seamen and Marines. The following officers were unfortunately lost : Captain Valentine Edwards; Lieutenant Munn, and Lieutenant Bartlett; Mr. Edward Bones Master; Mr Alexander Baxter, Gunner ; Mr. Robinson, Boatswain; Mr. Barlow, Mr. W. Edwards, Mr. T. Giles Kilburne, and Mr. James Tucker, Midshipmen ; and about 280 Seamen and Marines."

5 Dec 1799 For more detail on the loss if the vessel see also the book Shipwrecks of the Royal Navy, by W.S. Gilly, 1850, available in .pdf format via the Wayback Machine.