Hired armed ship Countess of Scarborough

His Majesty's hired armed ship Countess of Scarborough was a 22-gun ship that the Royal Navy hired in 1777. She participated in the capture of two privateers before she and HMS Serapis succumbed to a small American flotilla off Flamborough Head in 1779. Her subsequent fate is unknown.

The Royal Navy commissioned Countess of Scarborough in November 1777 under the command of Captain Thomas Piercy.

Countess of Scarborough and Medea shared in the capture, on 17 June 1779, of the French privateers Due de la Vauguyon and Comte de Maurepas.Medea captured Due de la Vauguyon (or Duc de Lavaugnon) of Dunkirk, a cutter of 14 guns and 98 men, after a fight of an hour. The fight cost the French four men killed and ten wounded; Medea had no casualties. Duc de la Vauguyon had been launched in 1779 and was under the command of Commandante Marin Le Page. The British took her into service as Duc de la Vauginon.

Duc de la Vauguyon had captured and ransomed a lobster smack sailing from Norway to Britain. The master of the smack informed Captain James Montague of Medea that the privateer had had a consort. Medea's rigging was too cut up for her to pursue the consort, so Montague sent Piercy after her. Piercy caught up with Compte de Maurepas after a few hours and the privateer struck without resistance. She was armed with fourteen 4-pounder guns and had a crew of 87 men.

On 23 September 1779 Serapis and Countess of Scarborough were escorting the Baltic fleet home when they encountered a small Franco-American squadron under the command John Paul Jones in Bonhomme Richard, and including the frigates Alliance and Pallas. Bonhomme Richard, and sporadically Alliance, engaged Serapis, ultimately capturing her.Countess of Scarborough sailed to engage Pallas, which was armed with 32 guns. The battle with Pallas lasted some two hours. After Countess of Scarborough had sustained much damage and suffered heavy casualties, Piercy observed another frigate coming up on her larboard quarter; Piercy then surrendered. In the battle, Countess of Scarborough lost four men killed and 20 men wounded, three of whom later died. All her braces, the great part of the running rigging, and her main and mizen top-sail sheets were shot away. Also, enemy fire had dismounted seven of her guns. By their resistance, Serapis and Countess of Scarborough saved the Baltic fleet from capture.

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