HMS Pegasus ( 1779 ) HMS " Pegasus " was a 28 - gun " Enterprise " - class sixth rate . This frigate was launched in 1779 at Deptford and sold in 1816 . " Pegasus " had a relatively uneventful career and is perhaps best known for the fact that her captain from 1786 to 1789 was Prince William Henry , the future King William IV . By 1811 " Pegasus " was a receiving ship at Chatham ; she was sold in 1816 . Service . The " Pegasus " was commissioned in May 1779 under Captain John Bazely and attached to George Rodney ' s fleet for the relief of the Great Siege of Gibraltar . She therefore was present at both of Rodney ' s actions in the campaign to relieve the fortress , participating in the seizure of a Spanish armaments convoy off Cape Finisterre on 8 January 1780 and subsequently fighting at the Battle of Cape St Vincent eight days later . " Pegasus " continued on with Rodney to Gibraltar and then to the West Indies where she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Martinique in April 1780 . Bazely carried the dispatches of the battle back to Britain and was soon given command of " Apollo " . " Pegasus " sailed again , now under Captain John Stanhope , for the Leeward Islands in January 1781 . She returned home in August , but subsequently returned to the Caribbean . On 23 January 1783 she captured the " Allegeance " , a former Royal Navy sloop that the French were using as a transport and that was carrying 200 troops . " Pegasus " paid off into ordinary in April 1783 . In 1786 Henry Harvey became captain of the recommissioned " Pegasus " for service on the North America station but was disappointed to discover that his first lieutenant was the Prince William Henry . The issue was that the Admiralty expected Harvey to turn over the captaincy to his subordinate as soon as the ship was at sea . Controlling his disappointment , Harvey conducted the affair with " such discretion as secured to him the lasting friendship of His Royal Highness " . Within weeks , Harvey had been transferred to HMS " Rose " and aboard her joined " Pegasus " in peacetime maneuvers off the North American station until " Rose " was paid - off in 1789 . From 1786 to 1788 , " Pegasus " , under Prince William Henry , was largely assigned to patrol the east coast of Canada and Newfoundland , as well as the West Indies . In late 1786 , " Pegasus " was stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson , who wrote of Prince William Henry , " In his professional line , he is superior to two - thirds , I am sure , of the [ Naval ] list ; and in attention to orders , and respect to his superior officer , I hardly know his equal . " Prince William Henry ' s First Lieutenant was William Hargood , who the prince had brought with him . Other officers or crew aboard " Pegasus " at this time who would rise in rank were Thomas Byam Martin , John Pasco and Charles Rowley . The prince was given a mentor , Isaac Schomberg , but that did not go well and required Nelson ' s intervention to resolve . Nelson also arranged for the transfer of William Johnstone Hope , who too had been appointed to " Pegasus " but had failed to get on with the prince . " Pegasus " returned to Plymouth and was decommissioned in March 1788 . Herbert Sawyer was promoted to Post - Captain in January 1789 , and took command of " Pegasus " to begin her next commission . He served aboard her on the North American Station , operating off Newfoundland . On 8 July 1790 she grounded on Annet , within the Isles of Scilly but refloated on the flood tide undamaged . French Revolutionary Wars . On 14 July 1793 " Pegasus " sailed with the Channel fleet from St . Helen ' s . On 18 July she was west of the Scilly Isle . On 31 July she briefly sighted but was unable to close the French fleet , so she returned to Torbay on 10 August . Thirteen days later she was with the Channel Fleet , escorting the Newfoundland trade and West Indian convoys while they were in home waters . By 23 October she was sailing in search of the French fleet and squadrons . On 18 November the Fleet in a brief skirmish with a French squadron ; by mid - December the fleet had returned to Spithead . In May – June 1794 the Channel Fleet fought the Battle of the Glorious First of June , during which it captured six ships of the line and sank a seventh . On 13 June the fleet arrived back in home ports . While under the command of Robert Barlow , who had been posted to " Pegasus " , she had served as a repeating ship for Admiral Howe ' s signals at the battle . Barlow transferred to the frigate as a reward . At the battle , " Pegasus " had as passenger Nicholas Pocock , the maritime artist . On 14 February 1795 the Channel fleet sailed from Torbay for a brief cruise and to see various convoys safe out of the Channel . In May 1796 news reached Admiral Adam Duncan , operating in the North Sea , that a Dutch squadron consisting of the 36 - gun " Argo " and three brig s and a cutter had departed Flickerve , Norway , bound for the Texel . Duncan despatched a squadron of his own to intercept them , consisting of the frigate " Phœnix " , under Captain Lawrence William Halsted , the 50 - gun , " Pegasus " and the brig - sloop , all under the overall command of Halsted . The British intercepted the Dutch at 5am in the morning of 12 May , with " Phoenix " and " Leopard " chasing " Argo " , while " Pegasus " and " Sylph " made after the brigs . " Leopard " eventually fell some way behind , and consequently it was " Phoenix " alone that brought " Argo " to the Action of 12 May 1796 . Meanwhile " Pegasus " and " Sylph " forced two of the brigs aground and took the small vessel accompanying the Dutch , which turned out to be a former British vessel , " Duke of York " . They then captured the third brig , the 16 - gun " Mercury " . The Royal Navy took both " Argo " and " Mercury " into service , the " Argo " becoming while " Mercury " became . In 1800 , under Capt . John Pengelly , " Pegasus " was fitted out as a troopship , armed en flûte . Between 8 March and 2 September 1801 " Pegasus " participated in the siege of Alexandria . Because " Pegasus " served in the navy ' s Egyptian campaign , her officers and crew qualified for the clasp " Egypt " to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants . Napoleonic Wars . In 1803 she was in the Mediterranean . By May 1805 she was a guardship at Harwich . By 1811 " Pegasus " was a receiving ship at Chatham . Fate . " Pegasus " was sold in 1816 .