HMS Brilliant was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the British Royal Navy that saw active service during the Seven Years' War with France. She performed well against the French Navy in the 1760 Battle of Bishops Court and the 1761 Battle of Cape Finisterre, but was less capable when deployed for bombardment duty off enemy ports. She also captured eight French privateers and sank two more during her six years at sea. The Royal Navy decommissioned Brilliant in 1763. The Navy sold her in 1776 and she became an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). Brilliant was wrecked in August 1782 on the Comoro Islands while transporting troops to India. Design and construction Design Thomas Slade, the Surveyor of the Navy and former Master Shipwright at Deptford Dockyard, was the designer of the Venus-class of 36-gun frigates. Alongside their smaller cousin, the 32-gun Southampton class, the Venus-class represented an experiment in ship design; fast, medium-sized and heavily-armed, capable of overhauling smaller craft and single-handedly engaging enemy cruisers or large privateers. As a further innovation, Slade borrowed from contemporary French ship design by removing the lower deck gun ports and locating the ship's cannons solely on the upper deck. This permitted the carrying of heavier ordinance without the substantial increase in hull size that would have been required to keep the lower gun ports consistently above the waterline. The lower deck carried additional stores, enabling Venus-class frigates to remain at sea for longer periods without resupply. Designed in 1756 she was built by Thomas Bucknall at Plymouth Dockyard and launched the following year, Venus was one of the first Royal Navy vessels to be built to a classic frigate design with a single gun deck and an emphasis on speed. Her principal role was that of a hunter of French privateers. One naval historian has described the Venus-class frigates, including Brilliant, as "the best British fighting cruisers" of their day. However they remained slightly inferior to her French equivalents in both speed and weight of ordinance. The Admiralty approved the Venus class design on 13 July 1756 and ordered three ships. Brilliant was the last of these, and the only one to be constructed at Plymouth Dockyard. Construction Thomas Bucknall, the Navy's Master Shipwright at Plymouth, oversaw the construction, which commenced with the laying of the keel on 28 August 1756. The vessel was formally named Brilliant on