One of the earliest vessels ordered for the infant Continental Navy of the United States, the frigate Hancock mounted 32 guns and measured 762 tons. Built at Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1776, she was 136½ feet long with a 35½ foot beam, and was ready for sea early in 1777. After capturing the British frigate H.M.S. Fox on 27th June, Hancock was then herself taken by H.M.S. Rainbow after a two day chase on 7-8th July. Absorbed into the Royal Navy and renamed Iris, she fought in several actions during 1780-81 until captured again, this time by the French, who retained her after peace was concluded in 1783. By the time the Napoleonic Wars began in 1793, Iris had become a powder hulk at Toulon and was found there lying in the harbour after the British took the port early in the war. The occupation proved short-lived however and on 18th December 1793 - just prior to the British evacuation - the Iris was blown up by the Royal Navy when they found her too old to remove for further service. It was an ignoble end for the last survivor of the Continental Navy and a notable vessel which had fought under three flags during her short but highly eventful life.