At least two vessels known as His Majesty's hired armed lugger Nile served the Royal Navy during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. These may have been the same vessel on sequential contracts. The first lugger Nile The first lugger Nile had a burthen of 176, and was armed with two 6-pounder guns and ten 12-pounder carronades. She served on a contract from 23 March 1799 to 21 November 1801. From 1799 to 1800 Nile was under the command of Lieutenant Ricard Whitehead. On 12 January 1800 Nile was under the command of her master, Stephen Butcher (or Bucher), Lieutenant Whitehead being ill on shore, when she captured the French privateer lugger Moderé. Modere was armed with four 4-pounder guns and had a crew of 42 men. She was only six hours out of Boulogne and hand not taken anything. As Nile was boarding her prize, came up. Captain Baker, of Nemesis took Moderé in charge and took her, as well as another captured privateer, Renard, and a recaptured brig, and took them into the Downs. Before leaving, Baker sent Nile to watch the port of Calais to try and intercept some other privateer luggers known to be out, and any captured British ships. Nile shared in the proceeds of Moderé and Renard with Nemesis and the cutter Stag. On 6 February Nile brought into Deal two recaptured West Indiamen, one, Elizabeth, had sailed from Jamaica. At some point in early 1800, Nile and the hired armed cutter Earl Spencer recaptured Molly, which was in ballast. This was probably Molley, which had been sailing from Exeter to Newcastle when a French privateer had captured her. Molley came into Deal on 14 February. Nile was among the many British vessels that shared in the proceeds of the capture of the French frigate Désirée, which HMS Dart, under Patrick Campbell, captured on 8 July in the Raid on Dunkirk. Nile, under Butcher, performed a useful service by laying as a leading mark at Gravelines Hook. Nile then brought the news of the action into Dover the next day. While under Bucher's command, Nile captured Marie. On 25 July 1800 Nemesis was part of a squadron that also included Terpsichore, , , and Nile, when it encountered the Danish frigate HDMS Freja, which was escorting a convoy of two ships, two brigs and two galliots. Baker hailed her and said that he would