HMS Active was a 28-gun sixth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1758. She was one of the captors of the Spanish ship Hermione. After Hermione surrendered, her captors found that she carried a large cargo of gold and silver that would lead to the greatest single amount of prize money awarded to the crew of a British warship. On 1 September 1778 the French frigates Charmante and Dédaigneuse captured Active after a storm had dismasted her. The French Navy took Active into service under her existing name. She was broken up in 1795. Construction Active was oak-built, one of 18 vessels forming part of the Coventry class of frigates. The naval architect Sir Thomas Slade designed the class to the dimensions of , which had been launched in 1756 and was responsible for capturing five French privateers in her first twelve months at sea. The Admiralty issued contracts for Actives construction to commercial shipwright Thomas Stanton of Rotherhithe on 23 May 1757, with the stipulation that he complete the work within nine months. Her keel was laid on 13 June 1757 and work proceeded apace, with the new-built vessel launched ahead of schedule on 11 January 1758. As built, Active was long with a keel, a beam of , and with a burthen of 594 tons (bm). Construction costs were £6,229, paid on a contract rate of £10 and 12 shillings per ton (bm). In late February 1758 Active sailed to Deptford Dockyard to receive her guns and naval stores, and to embark her crew of 200 officers and men. Her armament comprised 24 nine-pounder cannons located along her gun deck, supported by four three-pounder cannons on the quarterdeck and twelve ½-pounder swivel guns ranged along her sides. British career Seven Years' War Active was commissioned in January 1758 under the command of Captain Richard Hughes, entering Navy service during the early stages of the Seven Years' War against France. Her fitout and crewing were completed on 2 March and she put to sea to join a British squadron under Commodore Richard Howe. Howe's orders were to capture or destroy French ports, disable commercial shipping, and divert French land forces from Germany. To this end, between June and September 1758 Active was involved in Navy bombardment and landings at the ports of St Malo and Cherbourg, and was present for the unsuccessful British landings during the Battle