HMS Princess ( 1740 ) HMS " Princess was a 70 - gun third rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy . She had briefly sailed as the Princesa " for the Spanish Navy , until her capture off Cape Finisterre in 1740 during the War of the Austrian Succession . After being chased down and captured by three British ships , she was acquired for service by the Royal Navy . Her design and fighting qualities excited considerable interest , and sparked a series of increases in the dimensions of British warships . She went on to serve under a number of commanders in several theatres of the War of the Austrian Succession , including the Mediterranean , where she was at the Battle of Toulon , and in the Caribbean and off the North American coast . She was then laid up and being assessed , was not reactivated for service during the Seven Years ' War . She was instead reduced to a hulk at Portsmouth , in which capacity she lasted out both the Seven Years ' War and the American War of Independence , being sold for breaking up in 1784 , shortly after the end of the latter conflict , after a career in British service lasting 44 years . Spanish career and capture . " Princesa " was built between 1730 and 1731 , being nominally rated at 70 guns , but carrying 64 . On 25 March 1740 news reached the Admiralty that two Spanish ships had sailed from Buenos Aires , and were bound for Spain . Word was sent to Portsmouth and a squadron of three ships , consisting of the 70 - gun ships , and , under the command of Captain Colvill Mayne of " Lenox " , were prepared to intercept them . The ships , part of Sir John Balchen ' s fleet were briefly joined by and , and the squadron sailed from Portsmouth at 3am on 29 March , passing down the English Channel . " Rippon " and " St Albans " fell astern on 5 April , and though Mayne shortened sail , they did not come up . On 8 April Mayne ' s squadron was patrolling some 300 miles south - west of The Lizard when a ship was sighted to the north . The British came up and found her to be the " Princesa " , carrying 64 guns and a crew of 650 under the command of Don Parlo Augustino de Gera . They began to chase her at 10am , upon which she lowered the French colours she had been flying and hoisted Spanish ones . Mayne addressed his men saying ' When you received the pay of your country , you engaged yourselves to stand all dangers in her cause . Now is the trial ; fight like men for you have no hope but in your courage . ' After a two and half hour chase the British were able to come alongside and exchange broadsides , which eventually left the Spanish ship disabled . The British then raked her until she struck her colours . The Spanish ship had casualties of 33 killed and around 100 wounded , while eight men were killed aboard both " Kent " and " Orford " , and another one aboard " Lenox " . Total British wounded amounted to 40 , and included Captain Durell of " Kent " , who had one of his hands shot away . The commander of " Orford " during the engagement had been Lord Augustus FitzRoy . British service . " Princesa " was brought into Portsmouth on 8 May 1740 . An Admiralty order of 21 April 1741 authorised her purchase , and this was duly done on 14 July 1741 for the sum of £5 , 418 . 11 . 6¾d . After a great repair she was fitted at Portsmouth between July 1741 and March 1742 , for a total sum of £36 , 007 . 2 . 10d . Her spirited resistance to three ships of equal rating attracted much comment . A contemporary description noted that she was larger than any British first rate and carried unusually large guns , many of them brass . She was described as the finest ship in the Spanish Navy , with her high build allowing her to open her lower gunports in conditions that meant that her opponents could not . The Admiralty finally had the ammunition to rouse Parliament from its complacency and fund a series of increases in British warship dimensions . " Princess " was commissioned under her first commander , Captain Perry Mayne , in July 1741 . He was succeeded in 1743 by Captain Robert Pett , who took her out to the Mediterranean in December that year . She was part of Admiral Thomas Mathews ' fleet at the Battle of Toulon on 14 February 1744 . She came under the temporary command of Commander John Donkley in July 1745 , though he was soon replaced by Captain Joseph Lingen , all the while continuing in the Mediterranean . Thomas Philpot took command in 1746 , and " Princess " sailed for the Leeward Islands with Admiral George Townshend . Captain John Cokburne took over in July 1746 and " Princess " first sailed to Louisbourg and then home after a gale . She became the flagship of Admiral Richard Lestock later in 1746 and was present at the operations off Lorient from 20 to 25 September 1746 . In May 1747 Captain the Hon . Augustus Hervey took over command , and sailed to the Mediterranean , where in October 1747 she briefly became the flagship of Vice - Admiral John Byng . Later years . " Princess " was paid off in November 1748 . She was surveyed the following year but no repairs were reported . After a period laid up and inactive she was reported to be unfit for service on 15 November 1755 , she was converted to a hulk at Portsmouth between August 1759 and July 1761 . She was recommissioned in 1759 under Captain Edward Barber , and continued as a hulk during the Seven Years ' War and the American War of Independence . " Princess " was finally sold at Portsmouth on 30 December 1784 .