For Admiral Aplin's first voyage Captain John Rogers left The Downs on 20 May 1802, bound for Madras.

Because he was sailing in wartime, the Napoleonic Wars having commenced while Admiral Aplin was on her way home from her first journey, Rodgers took out a letter of marque, which she received on 20 August.

[5] Psyché was 35 days out of Île de France (Mauritius), but had made no captures prior to encountering Admiral Aplin.

On 27 September 1807, the privateer Robert Surcouf, in Revenant, captured an Admiral Aplin, which was carrying 9,500 bags of rice from Bengal to Bombay.

The same early account attributed the capture to the French frigate Piémontaise, and also reported that Admiral Aplin had subsequently foundered.