HMS Defender (1797)

Launched on 21 May 1797, GB No. 21 was renamed HMS Defender on 7 August the same year. She was a 12-gun Courser-class gun-brig built for the British Royal Navy at Limehouse and disposed of in 1802.

Design and construction
The Courser class was designed by Sir William Rule, the Surveyor of the Navy and although at first intended as gunboats, and therefore only had numbers, on 7 August 1797 they were reclassified as gun-brigs, and were given names. The class were fitted with a Schank sliding keel and armed with ten 18-pounder carronades and two long 24-pounders.

Service
Between August and October 1799 she was engaged on an expedition to Holland. During this period her captain was Lieutenant Samuel P. Leavey RN, and she was based in Portsmouth.

Fate
Defender was, along with many of her class, disposed of in 1802 during the short-lived Peace of Amiens.