Hired armed lugger Nile At least two vessels known as the hired armed lugger " Nile " served the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . These may have been the same vessel on sequential contracts . The first lugger " Nile " . The first lugger " Nile " had a burthen of 176 , and was armed with two 6 - pounder guns and ten 12 - pounder carronade s . She served on a contract from 23 March 1799 to 21 November 1801 . From 1799 to 1800 " Nile " was under the command of Lieutenant Ricard Whitehead . On 12 January 1800 " Nile " was under the command of her master , Stephen Butcher ( or Bucher ) , Lieutenant Whitehead being ill on shore , when she captured the French privateer lugger " Moderé " . " Modere " was armed with four 4 - pounder guns and had a crew of 42 men . She was only six hours out of Boulogne and hand not taken anything . As " Nile " was boarding her prize , came up . Captain Baker , of " Nemesis " took " Moderé " in charge and took her , as well as another captured privateer , the " Renard " , and a recaptured brig , and took them into the Downs . Before leaving , Baker sent " Nile " to watch the port of Calais to try and intercept some other privateer luggers known to be out , and any captured British ships . " Nile " shared in the proceeds of " Moderé " and " Renard " with " Nemesis " the cutter " Stag " . On 6 February " Nile " brought into Deal two recaptured West Indiamen , one , the " Elizabeth " had sailed from Jamaica . At some point in early 1800 , " Nile " and the hired armed cutter " Earl Spencer " recaptured the " Molly " , which was in ballast . This was probably the " Molley " , which had been sailing from Exeter to Newcastle when a French privateer had captured her . " Molley " came into Deal on 14 February . " Nile " was among the many British vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French frigate " Désirée " , which HMS " Dart " , under Patrick Campbell , captured on 8 July in the Raid on Dunkirk . " Nile " , under Butcher , performed a useful service by laying as a leading mark at Gravelines Hook . " Nile " then brought the news of the action into Dover the next day . While under Bucher ' s command , " Nile " captured the " Marie " . On 25 July 1800 " Nemesis " was part of a squadron that also included " Terpsichore " , , , and " Nile " , when it encountered the Danish frigate HDMS " Freja " , which was escorting a convoy of two ships , two brigs and two galliot s . Baker hailed her and said that he would send a boat to board the convoy . The Danish captain refused , and said that if a boat approached he would fire on it . Baker sent a midshipman and four men in a boat , and the Danes fired several shots , which missed the boat , but one of which killed a man on " Nemesis " . " Nemesis " then opened fire with her broadside . After an engagement of about 25 minutes , " Freja " , much damaged , struck . She had suffered eight men killed and many wounded ; both " Nemesis " and " Arrow " each suffered two men killed and several wounded . The British brought " Freya " and her convoy into the Downs on 6 March . They later released her , and presumably the rest of the convoy . This incident led to strained relations with Denmark , and , in order to anticipate any hostile move from Copenhagen , the British government despatched Earl Whitworth in August on a special mission to Copenhagen . The Danes not being ready for war , his mission staved off hostilities for about a year . In 1807 , after the second battle of Copenhagen , the British captured " Freja " and took her into the Royal Navy as HMS " Freya " . Much less momentously , on 27 October , " Nemesis " and " Nile " captured five fishing vessels . On 1 November " Nile " captured the French privateer " Renard " off Folkestone . Lieutenant Whitehead was again sick on shore so " Nile " was under the command of Mr . Butcher . " Renard " was armed with two 3 - pounder guns , and had a crew of 13 men under the command of Michael Bernard Hamelin . She had left Calais at 4pm the previous afternoon and when she was captured she was alongside a merchant ship . Second lugger " Nile " . The second lugger " Nile " had a burthen of 170 , and was armed with fourteen 12 - pounder carronades . She served on a contract from 26 April March 1804 to 25 October 1806 . She may have been the lugger " Nile " of 174 tons , fourteen 12 - pounder guns , and 55 men under the command of John Blake , that received a letter of marque on 21 July 1803 . In 1805 " Nile " was under the command of Lieutenant John ( or George ) Fennell ( or Fennel ) . In March she captured the French chasse maree " Deux Freres " and the brig " St François " . On 17 June " Nile " captured the French brig " Jeune Nanine " . Fennel was still in command of " Nile " at the battle of Cape Finisterre ( Calder ' s Action ) . Though cutter " Frisk " and the lugger " Nile " stayed out of the fight and suffered no casualties , as per regulations they shared in the proceeds for the capture of the Spanish ships " Firme " and " San Rafael " . Fennel died in 1805 and his replacement , in September , was Lieutenant Symonds ( or Simmonds ) . On 2 May 1806 " Nile " was in company with two Jersey privateers , the " Success " and the " Phoenix " , when they captured the Spanish brig " Santa Alodias " , or " Alvalia " .