Agamemnon was ordered from the commercial shipbuilder Henry Adams at his Bucklers Hard shipyard on the Beaulieu River on 5 February 1777, to be built to the lines of the , as designed by Sir Thomas Slade.
She was named after King Agamemnon, a prominent figure in ancient Greek mythology who participated in the Siege of Troy,[REF] and was the first Royal Navy vessel to bear the name.