HMS Adamant ( 1780 ) HMS " Adamant " was a 50 - gun " Portland " - class fourth rate warship of the British Royal Navy . She served during the American War of Independence , the French Revolutionary Wars , and the Napoleonic Wars in a career that spanned thirty years . Built during the American War of Independence she spent the last three years of the war off the American coast , and saw action at the Battle of Cape Henry and at the Battle of the Chesapeake . The years of peace were spent either in the Caribbean or off Nova Scotia , before the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars saw her commissioned for service in the Leeward Islands and off the British coast . It was while serving in British waters that she became caught up in the mutiny at the Nore . As one of only two two - decker ships to remain in action during the mutiny she had to maintain the Dutch blockade by creating the illusion of being part of a larger fleet , which she managed successfully . " Adamant " then went on to fight at the Battle of Camperdown , after which she moved to the English Channel , and then the Indian Ocean via the Cape of Good Hope . Here she took part in the destruction of the French commerce raider " Preneuse " , and in her later years captured a number of privateer s . She became a receiving ship and flagship of a port admiral during the last years of the Napoleonic Wars , until being broken up in June 1814 . Design and construction . " Adamant " was one of eleven ships built to a 1767 design by John Williams , and one of five ordered between 1775 - 6 . She was ordered from Peter Baker , of Liverpool , on 13 November 1776 , and laid down on 6 September 1777 . The ship was launched on 24 January 1780 , and completed between 13 June and 12 August 1780 at Plymouth . Her initial cost was £16 , 313 . 13 . 10d , rising to £27 , 497 . 3 . 0d when the cost of fitting her out was included . Career . North America . " Adamant " was commissioned in November 1779 under the command of Captain Gideon Johnstone , and sailed for North America on 13 August 1780 . She was with Vice - Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot ' s squadron at the Battle of Cape Henry on 16 March 1781 , and then at the Battle of the Chesapeake on 5 September 1781 . Johnstone was succeeded by Captain David Graves in February 1782 , while " Adamant " was still in North America , after which she returned to Britain as a convoy escort in December 1782 . The ship was then paid off in April 1783 and refitted for foreign service between May and September that year . " Adamant " recommissioned in June 1783 under Captain William Kelly , and on the completion of her refit , sailed to the Leeward Islands in November , where she spent the next three years as the flagship of Admiral Sir Richard Hughes . She was paid off again in September 1786 and underwent a great repair , followed by being fitted out as the flagship at Sheerness from August 1787 to May 1789 . " Adamant " was recommissioned in February 1789 by Captain David Knox , after which Admiral Hughes again hoisted his flag in her and sailed her to Nova Scotia in June . From January 1792 the ship was under Captain Charles Hope , until returning to Britain in June that year and being paid off . French Revolutionary Wars . " Adamant " was at first fitted for reserve duty in July 1792 , but with the outbreak of war with Revolutionary France in April 1793 she was hurriedly recommissioned , at first under Captain William Bentinck and at some point in 1794 William Mitchell was her acting - captain . From June 1794 she was under Captain Henry D ' Esterre Darby . Darby took " Adamant " back to the Leeward Islands in September 1794 , and by April 1796 " Adamant " was serving with George Vandeput ' s squadron . Captain Henry Warre took command in November 1796 , and was succeeded by Captain William Hotham on 11 January 1797 . Mutiny at the Nore , and Camperdown . " Adamant " was based at the Nore , operating in the North Sea and blockading the Dutch fleet at the Texel with Admiral Adam Duncan ' s fleet . In May 1797 mutiny broke out among the ships at the Nore , following on from one at Spithead earlier in the year . Of the two - decker ships of the fleet , only the crews of Duncan ' s flagship , and Hotham ' s crew aboard " Adamant " remained loyal . With only two ships available to blockade the Dutch , Duncan and Hotham took their ships out to sea , remaining in sight of the Dutch coast and for several weeks implied by false signals and manoeuvres , that the rest of the fleet was just over the horizon . Convinced by the impersonation that the blockade was still in force , the Dutch remained in port . Duncan and Hotham were later reinforced by the Russian squadron based at Harwich , and then by ships deserting the mutiny one by one . " Adamant " then fought as part of Duncan ' s fleet at the Battle of Camperdown on 11 October 1797 . The battle was a decisive victory for the British over the Dutch , led by Admiral Jan Willem de Winter , with " Adamant " escaping sustaining any casualties . " Adamant " was then attached to Sir Richard Strachan ' s squadron patrolling off Le Havre , after which she and Hotham were sent with a convoy to the Cape of Good Hope in October 1798 . While operating in the Indian Ocean " Adamant " and the 74 - gun , under Captain John Osborn , encountered the French commerce raider " Preneuse " , under Captain Jean - Marthe - Adrien l ' Hermite off Port Louis , Île de France on 11 December 1799 . They chased her , forcing her to run ashore three miles from Port Louis , under the cover of French shore batteries . Hotham took " Adamant " in close , and tried to work up to the grounded frigate , coming under heavy fire from the batteries and the " Preneuse " as he did so . After a period of exchanging fire , the " Adamant " forced the French frigate to strike , and that evening three boats carrying men from " Adamant " and " Tremendous " approached with orders to destroy the French vessel . Despite coming under heavy fire from the batteries , they boarded the ship , captured the remaining French crew , including Captain l ' Hermite , and removed as much of their captives ' private property as they could . They then set fire to the " Preneuse " and returned to their ships without the loss of a single man . Hotham remained off South Africa and in the Indian Ocean until being recalled to Britain as an escort for a convoy in September 1801 , returning on 14 December 1801 . Napoleonic Wars . " Adamant " spent between May 1803 and August 1804 under repair at Chatham Dockyard , before recommissioning in June under Captain George Burlton . On 13 April 1805 " Adamant " and captured the 4 - gun privateer " Alert " , and in October 1805 command passed to Captain John Stiles . Stiles escorted a convoy of East Indiamen in 1806 , and on 6 May captured the Spanish 26 - gun privateer " Nuestra Señora de los Dolores " off the Cape of Good Hope . On 17 June 1807 he added another prize to his total , capturing the 1 - gun privateer " Bueno Union " while serving on the Jamaica station . Stiles was succeeded by Captain Micaiah Macbon in October 1807 , and " Adamant " returned to the Jamaica station the following year . By early 1809 she was back in Britain , and spent the period between April and July 1809 being fitted at Chatham for service as a receiving ship at Leith . She was recommissioned in May 1809 under Captain John Sykes and in August took part in the Scheldt operations . Captain Matthew Buckle took command in August 1810 , and remained " Adamant " s captain for the next three years , which she spent as flagship of Rear - Admiral Robert Otway , and as a receiving ship at Leith . As the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close the ship was laid up in ordinary at Sheerness in 1814 , and then broken up there in June 1814 .