Hired armed lugger Valiant The hired armed lugger Valiant served the Royal Navy on a contract from 5 May 1794 to 10 November 1801 . She was of 109 tons ( bm ) , and was armed with eleven 3 - pounder guns . Lieutenant Thomas Baker commanded " Valiant " from 20 May 1794 until he moved to in November as her acting - captain . At the time , " Valiant " served in the Channel as part of the forces under Rear - Admiral John MacBride . On 8 June 1794 " Valiant " played a small part in a striking engagement between a frigate squadron under the Guernseyman Captain Sir James Saumarez , and a larger , stronger French squadron . On 6 June , Saumarez received an order from Admiral Macbride to take his frigate , the 36 - gun , the 32 - gun frigate , the 24 - gun post ship , and six cutters and luggers ( " Valiant " being one of them ) , to Guernsey and Jersey , and then to reconnoiter the French coast around Cancale and Saint Malo for signs of the French fleet . The squadron sailed on 7 December and on 8 December they were some leagues northwest of Guernsey when Saumarez sighted six sails in the distance . He did not think they were French , but he sent " Valiant " to investigate . As " Valiant " approached , the vessels hoisted French colours and fired on her . The French squadron sailed between the cutters and luggers on the one side and the three British ships on the other , so the small vessels fled back to Plymouth . Saumarez led the French south towards the Hannoways , both sides firing at each other but at such a distance that the fire was pro forma . He sent " Eurydice " , his slowest ship , ahead , while " Crescent " and " Druid " turned towards the Guernsey coast . Saumarez then sent " Druid " after " Eurydice " . Both vessels made it around the south coast of Guernsey into Saint Peter Port . Saumarez sailed close to Guernsey ' s western shore and through some rocks . What made this possible was Saumarez ' s pilot , Jean Breton , a Guernseyman who knew the waters well . The French gave up the chase , not being willing to risk their vessels in rocky waters they did not know . Tacking back and forth , " Crescent " sailed around Guernsey ' s north side and then south to Saint Peter Port . By 14 June " Valiant " had rejoined Saumarez . The French squadron consisted of the two 50 - gun French razees - " Scévola " and " Brutus " - the two 36 - gun frigates " Danaé " and " Félicité " , and a 14 - gun brig . The French squadron mounted 192 guns firing 5056 pounds of shot ; Saumarez ' s three ships mounted 92 guns firing 1500 pounds of shot . In early 1795 , " Valiant " brought 82 officers and men of the 2nd ( The Queen ' s Royal ) Regiment of Foot to Guernsey . " Valiant " s next contribution to an action occurred on 20 March 1796 , off the Bec du Raz . A squadron under Sir John Borlase Warren in " Pomone " , and including , and , engaged a French squadron escorting a convoy . The British captured four brigs from the convoy and Warren instructed " Valiant " to take them to the nearest port . ( The four brigs were the " Illier " , " Don de Dieu " , " Paul Edward " , and " Félicité " . ) The British then engaged the French warships escorting the convoy but were not able to bring them to a full battle before having to give up the chase due to the onset of dark and the dangerous location . " Galatea " was the only vessel in the British squadron to suffer casualties ; she lost two men killed and six wounded . The store - ship " Etoile " , under the command of " lieutenant de vaisseau " Mathurin - Théodore Berthelin , struck . She was armed with thirty 12 - pounder guns and had a crew of 160 men . The rest of the convoy escaped . By 22 August 1796 , " Valiant " was in the Mediterranean , carrying dispatches for Admiral John Jervis . " Valiant " s greatest success occurred on 5 and 6 December 1799 . She was under the command of Lieutenant Arthur Maxwell , and in the company of His Majesty ' s hired armed schooner " Speedwell " , which was under the command of Lieutenant Robert Tomlinson . On the 5th , they chased a French lugger privateer for six hours before they finally captured her some five leagues NW of Guernsey . The privateer was the " Heureuse Esperance " , of Saint Malo , armed with fourteen 3 - pounder guns , and with a crew of only 24 men , having placed a number of men aboard the four prizes she had captured before " Speedwell " and " Valiant " ended her cruise . She had thrown eight guns overboard during the chase . The next day " Speedwell " and " Valiant " chased another privateer brig for nine hours ( the last hour and ten minutes being a running fight ) . The British vessels forced the privateer to strike some two miles north of the Swin ( sic ) Islands . The privateer was the " Heureux Speculateur " , of Granville . She was armed with fourteen 6 - pounder guns and had a crew of 58 men under the command of Citizen Louis Joseph Quoniam . She had been cruising for four days but had not taken anything . In the exchange of fire the privateer had had one man killed and seven wounded ; there were no British casualties . Tomlinson described " Heureux Speculateur " as " a remarkably fast Sailer [ that ] has done a great deal of Mischief to the English Trade . " At some point , probably in 1800 , " Valiant " captured the " Louisa " . On 18 April 1801 , the " Providence " , of Jersey , came into Plymouth . " Valiant " had recaptured her some ten leagues off The Lizard . A French 14 - gun privateer had captured " Providence " ; after recapturing " Providence " , " Valiant " had sailed in search of the privateer . Then on 7 June " Valiant " escorted the East Indiaman " Highland Chief " and a convoy to the River Thames .