HMS Ardent (1796)

Ardent off Lowestoft on 16 October 1797
History
Great Britain
Name	HMS Ardent
Builder	Pitcher, Northfleet
Launched	9 April 1796
Acquired	March 1795 (on the stocks)[1]
Commissioned	May 1796
Honours and awards	Participated in: Battle of Camperdown Battle of Copenhagen
Fate	Broken up, 1824
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	64-gun third-rate ship of the line
Tons burthen	1,41624⁄94 (bm)
Length	173 ft 3 in (52.81 m) (overall) 144 ft 0 in (43.89 m) (keel)
Beam	43 ft 0 in (13.11 m)
Depth of hold	19 ft 10 in (6.05 m)
Propulsion	Sails
Sail plan	Full-rigged ship
Armament	Lower deck: 26 × 24-pounder guns Upper deck: 26 × 18-pounder guns QD: 10 × 9-pounder guns Fc: 2 × 9-pounder guns

HMS Ardent was a 64–gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, launched on 9 April 1796 at Northfleet. She had been designed and laid down for the British East India Company who was going to name her Princess Royal, but the Navy purchased her before launching, for service as a warship in the French Revolutionary War.

Ardent served throughout the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, notably taking part in the Battle of Camperdown, Vlieter Incident, and Battle of Copenhagen. She served frequently in the Baltic Sea during her career, before becoming a prison ship in 1813 and being broken up at Bermuda in 1824.