July 1773, the price for which was £16,420.19.10d. In July 1776, Courageux was commissioned under Captain Samuel Hood, and, in November, £10,132.6.2d was spent having her fitted out as a guardship at Portsmouth. The Channel Fleet Courageux was part of Admiral Augustus Keppel's Channel Fleet in 1778 and shared in the capture of the 32-gun French frigate and the French lugger on 17 June. The following day, Courageux was despatched with and in pursuit of another French vessel. Other British ships soon joined the chase, which was concluded on 19 June when the prize, the 32-gun Pallas, was brought to. Courageux received a share of the prize money for three more captures in September and five more in October. Between April and May 1779, she underwent another refit, which included the sheathing of her hull with copper, at a cost of £7,468.7.0d. She then returned to the Channel Fleet, by then under the command of Sir Charles Hardy. Hardy's fleet continued to take prizes in the Channel, and Courageux shared in the rewards: in June, took the Spanish ship Purísima Concepción, recaptured the 14-gun , and an American schooner, Marmy was taken by . On 31 December 1779, Courageux was part of the squadron commanded by Commodore Charles Fielding that captured a Dutch convoy, prior to a declaration of war. In what later became known as the Affair of Fielding and Bylandt, the British stopped the convoy in the Channel for the purpose of searching for contraband. The request was refused, and an action began which ended with the Dutch surrendering after a token resistance. The British took the captured ships as prizes, and Courageux received her share. Courageux was in the Western Approaches on 12 March 1780, in the company of another seventy-four, , when a large frigate was seen to the south-east. Alexander set off in pursuit and after eighteen hours was close enough to engage with her chase guns. After two hours more, as she was overhauling her quarry, Alexander's fore-top mast snapped. Courageux had by this time caught up and continued the chase, eventually forcing the French frigate's surrender. The prize was the Monsieur, a privateer from Granville of 40 guns and a crew of 362. In 1781, Courageux was under the command of Lord Mulgrave, and in the action of 4 January 1781, she and recaptured , approximately 5 miles west of Ushant. Minerve had