and an equal number of guns on her upper deck. Her upper works were furnished with sixteen guns. Following her capture, her main guns were reduced both in weight and number. Her lower deck was re-equipped with twenty-eight , while the number of 18-pound guns on her upper deck was also reduced to twenty-eight. The armament on her upper works was increased to eighteen guns, fourteen on the quarterdeck and four on the forecastle. With the end of the Seven Years' War came spending cuts which led not only to a drop in the number of Royal Navy ships being ordered, but also the Admiralty favouring existing designs over new. By 1783 the industry was booming once more, and a proposal for the new Carnatic class was approved. The four ships of this series were built to the exact lines of Courageux, and as such were noticeably larger than the other British 74s then in production. Service Capture In the late evening of 13 August 1761, Courageux was off Vigo in the company of the frigates Malicieuse and Hermione, when the 74-gun British ship HMS Bellona and the frigate Brilliant were seen. Mistaking them for ships of the line, Courageux and her compatriots sought escape into the darkness. The moon was bright, however, and the British were able to pursue. The next morning, Courageux's captain decided that Bellona was a 50-gun ship and, believing he had the superior force, ordered the frigates to attack Brilliant while he turned to close with Bellona. When the ships were within musket-shot, Courageux opened fire and, within nine minutes, had brought down Bellona's mizzen-mast and cut her rigging so badly that the ship became difficult to handle. Bellona's captain, seeing the danger, ordered a boarding party, but Courageux sheered off. With difficulty, the British ship was able to wear and, coming up on Courageux's starboard quarter, unleashed a series of devastating broadsides. Courageux was greatly damaged and, with about 200 men killed and a further 100 wounded, struck her colours. The two French frigates withdrew. Courageux was purchased by the Admiralty on 2 February the following year, for £9,797.16.4d, and taken into the Royal Navy as the third-rate HMS Courageux. Another £22,380.11.4d was invested in July, when a large repair was begun at Portsmouth, which took until the middle of June 1764 to complete. A further substantial repair was made between January 1772 and