French frigate Embuscade ( 1790 ) The Embuscade ( " Ambush " ) was a 32 - gun frigate . She served in the French Navy during the War of the First Coalition before being captured by the British . Renamed the " Ambuscade " and later the " Seine " , she participated in the Napoleonic Wars in the Royal Navy . French service . " Embuscade " , launched in 1789 , was constructed in Rochefort . Her captain was Jean - Baptiste - François Bompart , a former privateer who fought in the American War of Independence . In 1792 , she escorted convoys to and from Martinique , and ferried Edmond - Charles Genêt to the United States . During the early years of the war , she raided British shipping along the American east coast . On 31 July 1793 , she fought and severely damaged " Boston " at the Action of 31 July 1793 . " Embuscade " returned to France a year later and took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver in 1795 as part of Pierre Jean Van Stabel ' s squadron Capture and French Revolutionary Wars . In 1798 Captain Bambot was given command of a squadron of ships , including the " Embuscade " , with orders to transport troops to Ireland to fight in the Irish Rebellion of 1798 . Along the way , a British fleet learned of the French squadron ' s position and gave chase . The two forces fought at the Battle of Tory Island , which ended in a decisive French defeat . " Embuscade " was captured and added to the Royal Navy as " Ambuscade " . She was commissioned in August 1800 under the command of Captain the Honourable J . Colvill . On 26 March 1801 she sailed for Jamaica but by 1802 she was back in the English Channel . In September 1802 , while under the command of Captain David Colby she became the flagship for Rear - Admiral Edward Thornbrough in the North Sea . Napoleonic Wars . On 27 August 1803 , while under the command of Captain David Atkins , she captured the " Hendrick and Jan " . She was renamed HMS " Seine " in 1804 , as the previous " Ambuscade " had been retaken and was recommissioned under her old name , and the previous " Seine " had just been lost . In early 1805 , " Seine " captured several vessels on the Jamaica Station . First , on 29 January , was the Spanish schooner " San Ignacio " , which was carrying sundries and which was declared a Droit of Admiralty . Then on 30 April she captured the French privateer schooner " Perseverante " . " Perseverante " was armed with one 12 - pounder gun and four 4 - pounders , and had a complement of 90 men , of whom 84 were on board at the time of her capture . She was from Guadeloupe and had been out 12 days , during which she had captured the English sloop " Apollo " , of Bermuda . Capturing " Perseverante " required a chase of three hours as she was " remarkable fast sailing " . She was three years old , newly coppered and fastened with " composition bolts " ; the description was perhaps notice to the Admiral of the station that the Royal Navy might consider buying her . On 27 May " Seine " s barge , under the command of Lieutenant Bland of the Marines , captured the recently constructed Spanish schooner " Conception " off Puerto Rico . " Conception " was armed with two 6 - pounder guns and had a crew of 10 men . She had some nine passengers on board who resisted , but then escaped on shore . She was from Santa Maxta Martha and was carrying a cargo of log wood . Atkins captured nine prisoners who he quickly landed as they appeared ill and he wished to avoid introducing sickness into " Seine " . By coincidence , on 18 June , Bland and the barge captured a second " Conception " , this one a felucca of two long 4 - pounder guns and carrying a crew of 14 men . The Spanish resisted for three - quarters of an hour before surrendering . In the action they suffered five men wounded ; the British had no casualties . The felucca was carrying cocoa and cochineal from Puerto Rico to Cadiz . On his short cruize with the barge , Bland also destroyed a Spanish sloop . On 29 June " Seine " aided , " Comet " and in capturing the French brig " Pierre Caesar " off the coast of France . The Admiralty took " Pierre Caesar " into service as . " Seine " was broken up in 1813 .