French cutter Espion
The French cutter "Espion" was a cutter launched in 1781. The British captured her and took her in 1782 into the Royal Navy as HMS "Espion". The Royal Navy sold her in 1783. French service. "Espion" was one of the last of the "Levrette"-class cutters of Royal French Navy, built by Jacques and Daniel Denys at Dunkirk, and launched on 22 June 1781. On 7 December she and "Sagittaire" sailed as escorts to a convoy of ten transports taking supplies to the fleet of Admiral de Grasse at Martinique. The convoy arrived safely in January and from  there sailed to bring shells to the forces under François Claude Amour, marquis de Bouillé, which were Basseterre, the chief port and capital of St Kitts. On 24 January 1782 she encountered a British fleet under Admiral Sir Samuel Hood, which was sailing to try to relieve St Kitts. The sixth-rate frigate captured "Espion" near Nevis. Her captain was the Knight of Malta "Lieutenant de Vaiseau Chevalier" de Montluc de la Bourdonnaye. Hood described her as a large cutter, seven months old, and armed with sixteen 6-pounder guns. Hood sailed on to Basseterre but the delay occasioned in  capturing "Espion" gave de Grasse time to get out to sea. Although Hood was unable to relieve the siege, he was able to goad de Grasse into three futile attacks on the British fleet on 25 and 26 January. These attacks cost the British 172 men killed and 244 wounded; the French evacuated some 1000 wounded to Sint Eustatius. Hood then sailed away to Barbados. The Brimstone Hill redoubt at St Kitts surrendered on 13 February. Hood and Admiral George Rodney then met and defeated de Grasse at the Battle of the Saintes in early-April. Fate. The British took  Espion into service under her existing name and commissioned her on 24 January under the command of Lieutenant Thomas Sevell Shivers. She then sailed for Britain in September 1782. The Admiralty sold "Espion" in April 1783.