His Majesty's hired armed ship Prince William served the Royal Navy on two contracts, one during the French Revolutionary Wars and one during the Napoleonic Wars. She had been built in 1797, and was returned to her owners at the end of each contract.
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First contract
Prince William served from 24 April 1797 to 26 November 1801. She was described as being of 306 tons burthen (bm), and was armed with fourteen 24-pounder carronades. Her commander was Commander Thomas Whitwronge Clayton, her master was W. Nicholson, and she served on the North Sea station.
In 1797, Prince William, under Clayton's command, recaptured the London Packet, of Aberdeen. At the time Prince William was employed in convoying vessels. The French privateer Jason captured London Packet in the North Sea off Buchan Ness, Aberdeenshire, on 11 September 1797. She had been on a voyage from Archangelsk, Russia to Portsmouth.
On 24 September 1799 Prince William was part of a small squadron of shallow-draft vessels that Admiral Mitchell, in Babet, took to the Enkhaufen road to meet with supporters of the House of Orange at Medemblik. Clayton received promotion to post captain on 26 December 1799.
Lieutenant Thomas Richbell, of Centaur, was promoted to Commander on 26 December 1799, and was given the command of Prince William, on the Shields station. Two years later, on 29 April 1802, he received promotion to post captain. An amateur artist, Captain Richbell drew a picture, A view of Scarborough with His Majesty's armed ship Prince William, anchoring in a fresh gale that in 1803 he exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Second contract
Prince William served from 3 May 1804 to 2 November 1812. She was described as being of 307 37⁄94 tons burthen (bm), and was armed with fourteen 18-pounder carronades. "Captain Waller" was appointed to command her in 1804, possibly in September.
On 23 August 1807, Prince William was under the command of Captain Andrew Mott when she captured the St. Jurgen.
On 19 June 1810, Prince William, still under Mott's command, captured the Danish privateer Swalen, Hermansen, master.
Prince William, together with the 74-gun Hero, the ship-sloop Egeria, and the brig-sloop Grasshopper left Göteborg on 18 December 1811 as escorts to a convoy of 15 transports and a fleet of merchantmen, some 120 sail or more. Four or five days later Egeria and Prince William separated, together with the vessels going to the Humber and Scotland, including most of the merchant vessels. The transports and a handful of the merchantmen proceeded with Hero and Grasshopper. On 24 December Hero wrecked off Texel in a storm with the loss of all but 12 men of her 600-man crew. Grasshopper became trapped about a mile away and was forced to strike to the Batavian Republic.