Lowestoffe with schooners, one of which may have been Little Lucy under Nelson's command

32-gun 5th-rate frigate

• Launched in 1761.
• Wrecked in 1801.
• Nelson served in her as 2nd Lieutenant under his friend and mentor, Capt. William Locker, from April - December 1777.

Career:

• Served on and off in the West Indies until 1773.

• 1777: Under Captain William Locker she escorted a convoy to Jamaica and then served in the Leeward Islands.  Nelson joined as 2nd lieutenant - she was his first ship after passing his exam.  On this voyage, Nelson met Cuthbert Collingwood, also a lieutenant, who would remain one of his closest friends for the rest of his life.

• November 1777: Captured the Resolution, an American privateer.  Lowestoffe's 1st lieutenant attempted to board her but failed due to the rough sea, and returned to his own ship.  Unable to resist a challenge, Nelson offered to try, and he succeeded in boarding the prize.  She was renamed Little Lucy, and in appreciation of Nelson's actions, Capt. Locker gave her to him to command.

• Sept - Oct 1779: Present at the capture of the Spanish town at San Fernando de Omoa in Honduras.  During an unexpectedly long and difficult march after landing, the British found that though they met with little resistance from the town, they couldn't take the fort as they had dropped the scaling ladders.  So the Lowestoffe and Charon (another frigate) fired on the fort, along with the guns landed by the crew of the Pomona, which distracted the garrison for long enough that the British soldiers could run in with a surprise attack and take the fort almost before the Spanish realised it.  During the bombardment, Lowestoffe became temporarily grounded and was badly damaged.  (Capt. Christopher Parker)

• 1793: Joined Admiral Hood's Mediterranean fleet blockading Toulon.  (Capt. William Wolseley)

• 1794: Took part in the attacks on Corsica and Bastia (Nelson was there, too, in the Agamemnon).  (Capt. Wolseley, succeeded by Capt. Charles Cunningham and then Capt. Benjamin Hallowell)

• 14th March 1795: Fought at the Action off Genoa, where Nelson in the Agamemnon captured Ça Ira.  (Capt. Hallowell)

• 24th June 1795: Along with the Dido, captured the Minerve.  (Capt. Robert Gambier Middleton)

• 1801: Wrecked off the Caicos Islands after being grounded by a sudden reverse of the current.  Five men were killed.  Capt. Robert Pamplin was court martialled and honourably acquitted.