HMS Pegasus (1779)  HMS "Pegasus" was a 28-gun sixth rate. This frigate was launched in 1779 at Deptford and sold in 1816. "Pegasus" had a relatively uneventful career and is perhaps best known for the fact that her captain from 1786 to 1789 was Prince William Henry, the future King William IV. By 1811 "Pegasus" was a receiving ship at Chatham; she was sold in 1816. "Pegasus" was commissioned in May 1779 under Captain John Bazely and attached to George Rodney's fleet for the relief of the Great Siege of Gibraltar. She therefore was present at both of Rodney's actions in the campaign to relieve the fortress, participating in the seizure of a Spanish armaments convoy off Cape Finisterre on 8 January 1780 and subsequently fighting at the Battle of Cape St Vincent eight days later. "Pegasus" continued on with Rodney to Gibraltar and then to the West Indies where she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Martinique in April 1780. Bazely carried the dispatches of the battle back to Britain and was soon given command of "Apollo". "Pegasus" sailed again, now under Captain John Stanhope, for the Leeward Islands in January 1781. She returned home in August, but subsequently returned to the Caribbean. On 23 January 1783 she captured the "Allegeance", a former Royal Navy sloop that the French were using as a transport and that was carrying 200 troops. "Pegasus" paid off into ordinary in April 1783. In 1786 Henry Harvey became captain of the recommissioned "Pegasus" for service on the North America station but was disappointed to discover that his first lieutenant was Prince William Henry. The issue was that the Admiralty expected Harvey to turn over the captaincy to his subordinate as soon as the ship was at sea. Controlling his disappointment, Harvey conducted the affair with "such discretion as secured to him the lasting friendship of His Royal Highness". Within weeks, Harvey had been transferred to HMS "Rose" and aboard her joined "Pegasus" in peacetime maneuvers off the North American station until "Rose" was paid-off in 1789. From 1786 to 1788, "Pegasus", under Prince William Henry, was largely assigned to patrol the east coast of Canada and Newfoundland, as well as the West Indies. In late 1786, "Pegasus" was stationed in the West Indies under Horatio Nelson, who wrote of Prince William Henry, "In his professional line, he is superior to two-thirds, I am sure, of the [Naval] list; and in attention to orders, and respect to his superior officer, I hardly know his equal."