HMS Coureuse (1795)

HMS Coureuse was a schooner launched in 1785 or 1788 in the United States and acquired and armed at Lorient in 1794. The British captured her in 1795 and the Royal Navy briefly used her as a dispatch vessel in the Mediterranean. The Admiralty sold her in 1799.

Career
Coureuse sailed out to Cayenne, and back to Lorient under the command of Lieutenant de Vaisseau Malvin (acting).

In February 1795 Coureuse, under the command of Enseigne de vaisseau Landais (acting), was escorting a convoy of three brigs and two luggers carrying clothes for the Army from Île-Tudy to Île de Groix when the convoy had the misfortune to encounter a squadron under Captain Sir John Borlase Warren in HMS Pomone (1794). Pomone captured all six vessels. At the time of her capture her captors described Curieuse (name latter corrected to Coureuse) as a schooner belonging to the National Convention government and carrying eight brass guns.

The frigates HMS Artois (1794), HMS Galatea (1794) and HMS Anson (1781), and the hired armed lugger Duke of York assisted Pomone in the capture. The British latter scuttled two of the brigs they had captured from the convoy that were of little value, but took the other four vessels as prizes, with Coureuse being taken into service.

The Royal Navy fitted Coureuse out between June and July 1795, and registered her on 22 July. She then briefly served as a dispatch vessel in the Mediterranean.

Fate
Coureuse was offered for sale at Plymouth in March 1799. She was sold on 13 April 1799 for £125 to Mr. Dodds.