French frigate Rhin ( 1802 ) Rhin was a 44 - gun " Virginie " - class frigate of the French Navy launched in 1802 . She was present at two major battles while in French service . The Royal Navy captured her in 1806 . Thereafter " Rhin " served until 1815 capturing numerous vessels . After the end of the Napoleonic Wars she was laid up and then served as a hospital for many years . She was finally broken up in 1884 . French service . " Rhin " took part in the Battle of Cape Finisterre and in the Battle of Trafalgar . " Rhin " arrived at Plymouth on 8 August . She was repaired and fitted there from March through August 1809 . The Royal Navy commissioned her in June 1809 as HMS " Rhin " under Captain Frederick Aylmer for the Channel . Captain Charles Malcolm replaced Aylmer in July 1809 , and would remain her captain until " Rhin " paid off in 1815 . British service : Napoleonic Wars . On 16 November 1809 , " Rhin " was in company with " Pheasant " when " Pheasant " recaptured the brig " Trust " . On 22 March 1810 " Rhin " captured the French privateer " Navarrois " . " Navarrois " was four days out of Bayonne , was armed with 16 guns and carried a crew of 132 men . On 27 September had been in pursuit of a French brig when " Rhin " joined the chase and after two and a half hours captured the quarry off the Lizard . The French vessel was the privateer " San Joseph " , of Saint Malo , under the command of a Joseph Wittevronghel , a Dane . " San Joseph " was one year old , about 100 tons burthen ( bm ) , and armed with 14 guns though she was pierced for 16 . She had only been out one day when the British captured her and had taken nothing . had been in company with " Wolverine " at the time . On 9 October " Rhin " captured the French privateer brig " Comtesse de Montalivet " , of Saint Malo . The capture followed a chase of two and a half hours and only ended when the brig lost her maintop - mast . " Comtesse de Montalivet " was pierced for 16 guns but only mounted 14 . She had a crew of 57 men but only 40 were on board as 17 were in prize crews . She was a new vessel on her first cruise and had taken two prizes , one a Portuguese ship and the other an American brig . On 14 October " Rhin " recaptured the ship " Fama " . " Fama " , which had been sailing from Lisbon to London when she was captured , arrived in Plymouth on 18 October . On 2 February 1811 " Rhin " captured the French privateer brig " Brocanteur " . On 5 April " Rhin " captured the schooner " Bonne Jeanette " . Six days later " Rhin " captured the American ship " Projector " . Almost two months later , on 27 May , " Rhin " was in company with the hired armed schooner " Princess Charlotte " when they captured the American ship " Fox " . Then on 12 December " Rhin " captured the French chasse maree " Dorade " . On 27 March 1812 " Rhin " captured the American brig " Eclipse " . On 21 June " Rhin " and " Medusa " supported an attack by Spanish guerrillas on French forces Lequitio and the nearby island of San Nicholas . " Venerable " landed a gun whose fire enabled the guerrillas to capture the fort above the town . " Medusa " and " Rhin " landed a carronade each to support their marines and those from " Surveillante " , who captured the island . Although the guerrillas suffered losses , British casualties were nil . On 24 June , landing parties from " Rhin " and " Medusa " destroyed fortified works at Plencia . On 8 November " Rhin " was in company with the sloop " Helicon " when they captured the French privateer " Courageuse " . The capture took place off the Eddystone after a four - hour chase during which the privateer schooner threw overboard her 14 guns , her anchors and part of her provisions . " Courageuse " was of 90 tons and carried a crew of 70 men . British service : War of 1812 . On 5 January 1813 " Rhin " , " Colossus " and the brig " Goldfinch " captured the American ship " Dolphin " . A little over a month later , on 11 February , " Rhin " and " Colossus " captured the American ship " Print " . On 24 February 1814 , " Rhin " recaptured the " Robert " . Then on 11 March " Rhin " captured the American letter of marque brig " Rattlesnake " . A satisfying capture occurred on 5 June when " Rhin " sighted and gave chase to an American privateer schooner . After an eleven - hour chase " Rhin " captured the " Decatur " in the Mona Passage about four leagues from Cape Engaño . Her captain was Dominique Diron , who had also commanded " Decatur " when she had captured the schooner HMS " Dominica " in 1813 . " Decatur " had sailed from Charleston on 30 March and had made no captures . On 27 June 1815 " Rhin " captured French transport No . 749 , " Leon " , and " Marie Joseph " . Then on 19 July , " Rhin " was in company with , , , " Ferret " and when they captured the French vessels " Fortune " , " Papillon " , " Marie Graty " , " Marie Victorine " , " Cannoniere " , and " Printemis " . The attack took place at Corrijou ( Koréjou , east of Abervrach on the coast of Brittany ) , and during the action " Ferret " was able to prevent the escape of a French man - of - war brig that she force ashore . Apparently , this cutting out expedition was the last of the war . Later career . " Rhin " underwent a large repair at Sheerness between May 1817 and August 1820 . She was then laid up ( roofed over ) . In 1822 " Rhin " was among the many vessels that had served on the north coast of Spain and the coast of France in the years 1812 , 1813 and 1814 that received their respective proportions of the sum reserved to answer disputed claims from the Parliamentary grant for services during those years . From May to October 1838 she was fitted at Chatham as a lazaretto for Sheerness . Fate . The Admiralty lent " Rhin " to the Sub - committee for the Inspection of Shipping on the Thames as a smallpox hospital ship on 9 September 1871 . She was sold to Charlton & Sons , Charlton on 26 May 1884 for £1 , 250 .