HMS Caroline was a 36-gun fifth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was designed by Sir John Henslow and launched in 1795 at Rotherhithe by John Randall. Caroline was a lengthened copy of HMS Inconstant with improved speed but more instability. She was commissioned in July 1795 under Captain William Luke to serve in the North Sea Fleet of Admiral Adam Duncan. Caroline spent less than a year in the North Sea before being transferred to the Lisbon Station. Here she began her productive career of prize taking, with service taking her from off Lisbon to Cadiz and into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1799 she assisted in the tracking of the French fleet of Admiral Étienne Eustache Bruix, and in 1800 she served as a blockade ship at Cadiz.