HMS Raisonnable (sometimes spelt Raisonable) was a 64-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, named after the ship of the same name captured from the French in 1758. She was built at Chatham Dockyard, launched on 10 December 1768 and commissioned on 17 November 1770 under the command of Captain Maurice Suckling, Horatio Nelson's uncle. Raisonnable was built to the same lines as , and was one of the seven ships forming the of 1761. Raisonnable was the first ship in which Nelson served. Service history At the request of Nelson's father, Suckling entered the young Horatio Nelson as midshipman into the ship's books, though Nelson did not embark until a couple of months after this (it was not uncommon practise to rate sons of relatives or friends several months before they entered the ship, though Admiralty orders expressly forbade this), on 15 March 1771. Raisonnable had been in the process of commissioning at this time, in response to an expected conflict with Spain. However, the war never developed, and Raisonnable remained in the Medway as a guard ship. At this time, Suckling took command of the 74-gun , and took Nelson with him. The ship re-commissioned on 25 May 1771 under Captain Henry St. John, a mere 10 days since paying off as a guard ship, and joined the Channel Fleet. St John was succeeded by Captain Thomas Greaves on 23 January 1773, and Raisonnable paid off at Plymouth on 23 September 1775. American Revolutionary War She was again re-commissioned on 25 February 1776 under Captain Thomas Fitzherbert, and despatched to the North American Station. On the 24th December 1776 she captured the American Brig Dalton capturing all hands which it delivered to Plymouth as Prisoners of War, On 24 May 1778 she, with HMS Diamond, captured and burned American schooner "Fly" off Cape Cod. On 27 May she, with HMS Diamond, captured American brig "Sally" off Cape Cod. On 28 May she, with HMS Diamond, captured Connecticut privateer "General McDougall" off Cape Cod. In July 1778, Raisonnable formed part of Lord Howe's squadron, which was lying off Sandy Hook. The French Admiral d'Estaing was nearby with a large fleet, and the two opposing sides were only prevented from engaging in battle by the weather and sea conditions, which forced the two fleets to disperse. Captain Henry Francis Evans took command of Raisonnable on 5 December