History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Bold
Ordered	30 December 1800
Builder	Wells & Co, Blackwall Yard
Laid down	January 1801
Launched	16 April 1801
Completed	By 9 May 1801
Fate	Broken up in April 1811
General characteristics [1]
Class and type	Archer-class gun-brig
Tons burthen	17929⁄94 (bm)
Length	80 ft 8 in (24.6 m) (overall) 65 ft 10+1⁄4 in (20.1 m) (keel)
Beam	22 ft 7+1⁄2 in (6.9 m)
Depth of hold	9 ft (2.74320 m)
Sail plan	Brig
Complement	50
Armament	2 × 32-pounder carronades + 10 × 18-pounder carronades + 2 × 8-inch howitzers

HMS Bold was a 14-gun Archer-class gun-brig of the Royal Navy built at Blackwall Yard. She took part in several minor actions and captured some prizes before she grounded in 1811 and was broken up shortly thereafter.

Bold was commissioned under Lieutenant James Ides Short, for the Nore.^[1] Lieutenant James Agassiz replaced him in October 1801, and then in June 1802, Lieutenant William Chivers replaced Agassiz.^[1]

On 18 October 1804, Bold was in company with the hired armed brig Ann and cutter Florence and the brig-sloop Cruizer when Cruizer captured the 17-gun privateer Contre-Amiral Magon in the North Sea.^[2] Actually, Cruizer left Bold, Ann and Florence behind during the pursuit and they played no part in the capture.

On 15 March 1805 Bold was in company with Cruizer and Minx when they captured the Industria.^[3][a] On the last day of March Bold and Ann captured the Neptunus.^[5] On 3 August, Bold was in a squadron with Blazer, Basilisk, Tigress, Piercer, Ariadne and Furious when they captured Frederick Wilhelm.^[6]

On 2 November Bold and Watchfl recaptured Ceres, John and Amy, and George.^[7]

On 1 October 1806 Bold captured Conceicas e Almas.^[8]

Lieutenant William Slaughter took command in 1805; Then at some point in 1806 Lieutenant William Chivers resumed command.

On 29 May 1810 boats from Bold, Desiree, Quebec, and Britomart, all under the command of Lieutenant Samuel Radford, attacked several French armed vessels in the Vlie. They drove ashore and burned a French lugger of six guns and 26 men, and captured and brought out another lugger of 12 guns and 42 men, a French privateer schuyt of four guns, a Dutch gunboat, and a small row boat. The British had no casualties; the French lost one man killed and three wounded.^[9]

Bold was one of several vessels driven ashore near Yarmouth, Isle of Wight in a gale on 6 January 1811,^[10] but the crew was saved. She was broken up at Sheerness in April that year.^[1]

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8.
• Winfield, Rif (2008). British Warships in the Age of Sail 1793–1817: Design, Construction, Careers and Fates. Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-86176-246-7.