HMS Prince William ( 1780 ) HMS " Prince William was a 64 - gun third - rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy . She had previously been the Nuestra Señora de la Asunción , but was better known as Guipuzcoano " , an armed merchantmen of the Spanish " Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas " . " Guipuzcoano " was sailing as the flagship of an escort for a merchant convoy of the company , when they ran into a large British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney , bound for the relief of Gibraltar . In a short action Rodney captured the entirety of the convoy and all its escorts , including the " Guipuscoano " , which he manned and named in honour of Prince William , sending her back to Britain with some of the merchants . The Navy approved her acquisition and after fitting out she was sent to the West Indies , where she took part in most of the battles there during the American War of Independence , including the capture of Sint Eustatius and the battles of Fort Royal , Saint Kitts and the Saintes . She returned to Britain after the end of the wars , was converted to a sheer hulk before the start of the French Revolutionary Wars , was a receiving ship by 1811 and was broken up in 1817 , two years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars . Capture . " Guipuzcoano " was sailing as the flagship of Commodore Don Juan Agustín de Yardi , and commanded by Captain Don Tomás de Malay , in late 1779 , escorting a convoy of 15 merchants of the " Compañía Guipuzcoana de Caracas " from San Sebastián to Cadiz . Also escorting the convoy were four company frigates , the 32 - gun " San Carlos " , 30 - gun " San Rafael " , 28 - gun " Santa Teresa " and 26 - gun " San Bruno " , and two smaller vessels , the 16 - gun " San Fermín " and 10 - gun " San Vicente " . On 8 January 1780 the convoy encountered a large British fleet off Cape Finisterre under Admiral Sir George Rodney , bound for the relief of Gibraltar . Rodney closed on the convoy , the copper sheathing on some of his ships allowing them to outsail the Spanish . The whole convoy was captured , with vessels which had been carrying naval stores to the Spanish fleet at Cadiz , and baled goods for the Royal Caracas Company being sent back to England , escorted by and . Those Spanish ships that were found to be carrying provisions were taken to Gibraltar by Rodney , and used to relieve the British forces there . In addition Rodney commissioned and manned the captured Spanish flagship , the 64 - gun " Guipuzcoano " , naming her HMS " Prince William " , in honour of Prince William , who had been present at the engagement . The four captured frigates were not added to the navy , but the two smaller vessels were purchased , being named and and rated as 14 - gun brig s . British career . The name " Prince William " was confirmed on 3 April 1780 and she was fitted and coppered at Portsmouth between April and August 1780 . She was commissioned under her first commander , Captain Stair Douglas , in April that year , and joined the Channel Fleet under Sir George Darby . She sailed for the West Indies in November 1780 with the fleet under Sir Samuel Hood , and saw action with the fleet at the capture of Sint Eustatius in February 1781 , and at the Battle of Fort Royal on 29 / 30 April 1781 . " Prince William " then left the West Indies at the end of the year , sailing to North America and arriving there in October . She was soon back in the West Indies with Hood , and command passed from Douglas to Captain George Wilkinson . She fought with Hood ' s fleet at the Battle of Saint Kitts on 25 / 26 January 1782 , where she had three men wounded . " Prince William " fought at the brief clash with the Comte de Grasse in the Dominica Channel on 9 April 1782 , and was then at the decisive British victory at the Battle of the Saintes on 12 April 1782 , where she was the last ship in the van division and escaped suffering any casualties . " Prince William " was then part of the squadron despatched under Hood to chase down French ships , but due to her poor sailing did not arrive in time to take part in the Battle of the Mona Passage . On 14 April Wilkinson was succeeded by Captain James Vashon , who spent only two months in command before being appointed Rodney ' s flag captain aboard . Captain William Merrick took command later in 1782 , and in July she sailed to North America with the fleet under Admiral Hugh Pigot . The fleet was at New York between September and October , after which it sailed to blockade Cap François . " Prince William " sailed from Jamaica in April 1783 , bound for Britain to be paid off on her arrival in July . After some time spent laid up , she was fitted as a sheer hulk at Portsmouth between December 1790 and April 1791 , and in this state saw out most of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . She had been fitted out as a receiving ship for guns by 1811 , and was broken up at Portsmouth in September 1817 , two years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars . Notes . a . Rodney successfully relieved Gibraltar , and then engaged and defeated a Spanish fleet under Juan de Lángara at the Battle of Cape St Vincent , on 16 January 1780 . b . The two had short careers with the Royal Navy . HMS " Saint Fermin " was captured by two Spanish xebec s on 4 April 1781 while under the command of Jonathan Faulknor , while HMS " Saint Vincent " was sold in April 1783 .