HMS Trent was a fifth-rate sailing frigate of 36 guns, built for the Royal Navy and launched in February 1796. She carried a main battery of twenty-six 18-pounder (8.2-kilogram) long guns. She and her sister ship HMS Glenmore were constructed from pitch pine rather than oak.

First commissioned in March 1796 for service in the North Sea, Trent was briefly involved in the fleet mutinies of 1797 but returned to duty when Admiral Adam Duncan's flagship came alongside and threatened to open fire. When Duncan sailed to meet the Dutch fleet, Trent was one of only four loyal ships that went with him, and kept the enemy in port by making signals to a fleet that did not exist. In November, Trent sailed for the Leeward Islands where, on 30 March 1799, she and the armed cutter, HMS Sparrow, captured a Spanish ship and a schooner in a cutting out expedition off Puerto Rico. Two other schooners were scuttled by their Spanish crews during the battle. In October 1800, while serving in the English Channel, Trent's crew took part in another boat action when they boarded a cutter and a lugger off the Ile de Brehat.

Trent spent her last years of active service, in the West Indies. She returned home in June 1803, to be fitted as a hospital ship. Stationed at Cork, she served as flagship to the Commanders-in-chief on the Coast of Ireland Station. In November 1815, she was converted to a receiving ship. She remained at Cork until February 1823, when she was taken to Haulbowline and broken up.

HMS Trent was one of four 36-gun, 18-pounder, Amazon-class frigates built for the Royal Navy, to a design by William Rule. Frigates of the period were three-masted, full-rigged ships that carried their main battery on a single, continuous gun deck. They were smaller and faster than ships of the line and primarily intended for raiding, reconnaissance and messaging. Since late 1778, those of 36 or 38 guns with a main armament of 18-pounder long guns, had become the standard in the Royal Navy and by 1793, when the French Revolutionary War began, it was not unusual for them to be close to 1000 tons burthen (bm).

Trent and her sister ship HMS Glenmore were ordered on 24 January 1795 to be built from pitch pine rather than oak. The shortage of timber, and in particular oak, was a constant problem for the Royal Navy in the 18th and 19th centuries. Softwoods were easier to work and did not require as much seasoning so fir-built frigates could be produced quicker. They were not as strong however, and did not last as long as their oak-built counterparts.

Work began in March at Woolwich Dockyard when Trent's keel of 119 ft 6 in (36.42 m) was laid down. As built, her dimensions were 143 ft (44 m) along the gun deck with a beam of 38 ft 2 in (11.63 m) and a depth in hold of 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m), making her 925 87⁄94 tons burthen (bm).

Trent was a fifth rate, built to carry a main battery of twenty-six 18-pounder (8.2-kilogram) long guns on her gun deck, eight 12 pdr (5.4 kg) on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. She additionally carried eight 32 pdr (15 kg) carronades, six on the quarterdeck and two on the forecastle. Carronades were lighter so could be manoeuvred with fewer men, and had a faster rate of fire but had a much shorter range than the long gun. When fully manned, Amazon-class frigates had a complement of 264 but due to a perpetual shortage of seamen during periods of war, Trent averaged a crew of less than 248 throughout her career.

Trent was first commissioned in March 1796 for service in the North Sea, under Captain Edward Bowater, who later became Admiral, and father to Edward Bowater. Following her completion on 25 May, Trent was sent to the Great Yarmouth where she joined Admiral Adam Duncan's North Sea Fleet and in September, Trent came under the temporary command of acting captain John Gore.