Suter sailed it to Hawai'i and sold it to Hawaiian monarch Kamehameha II (aka Liloliho) for slightly more than a million pounds of sandalwood.

Eldest son George Crowninshield Jr. (1766–1817) commissioned a pleasure yacht originally called the ship Car of Concordia.

Furniture was covered in red velvet with gold lace, and the kitchen included custom silver, china, and formal glassware.

[5] On January 14, 1817, the Salem Gazette reported:"The elegant equipment of this vessel, by Mr. Crowninshield, for a voyage of pleasure, as it is an entire novelty in this country, has excited universal curiosity and admiration.

[4] They reached Faial Island (which they called Fayal) in the Azores, April 24 where the American Consul gave a ball in their honor.

[4] It was widely suspected that the Crowninshields were planning to free former Emperor Napoléon Bonaparte from his exile on Saint Helena island back to America.

They took on board the captain of the ship on which Napoleon escaped Elba and his doctor, along with souvenirs such as a pair of Napoléon's boots and an imperial snuffbox.

[4] After arriving back in Salem from his first cruise October 3, George Crowninshield Jr. died suddenly on November 26, 1817, aboard the ship planning his next adventure.

It sailed via South America under Captain John Suter (1781-1852) in June 1820, who had instructions to try to sell it in the Kingdom of Hawaii, then known as the "Sandwich Islands".

Suter had been to the Hawaiian Islands on several previous trips, and as he suspected, the day after he arrived on November 6, 1820 King Kamehameha II inspected the ship and was impressed.

The ancient Hawaiians had keen interest in boats, and the young king knew his father Kamehameha the Great used Western military technology such as large armed ships to conquer the islands.

Kamehameha II was quite proud of his ship; in the words of Charles Bullard, the agent for Sturgis and Bryant at the time:"If you want to know how Religion stands at the Islands I can tell you — All sects are tolerated but the King worships the Barge.

On its nighttime arrival to Honolulu, the noise and flashes from its blasts and the responding welcoming volleys from the fort caused an uproar of frightened people and barking dogs.

On the evening of September 16, Kamehameha II suddenly ordered his crew to set sail quietly for Oʻahu, effectively forcing Kaumualiʻi into exile.

Captain Thomas Meek was hired to replace the rotting wood, after a trip to the Pacific Northwest to obtain lumber.

On April 6, 1824, in Hanalei Bay, on the northern coast of Kauaʻi island Haʻaheo o Hawaiʻi ran the aground on a shallow reef.

A recent theory for why the ship was in such a remote area was that it was on a scouting expedition, investigating plans for the rumored rebellion that would take place a few months later led by Kaumualiʻi's son Humehume.

Although this theory gives retribution for Kaumualiʻi's capture as a motive for potential sabotage, the missionaries blamed the wreck on the frequent drunkenness of the crew.

In January 1994 Paul Forsythe Johnston of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History applied for the first underwater archaeological permits issued by the state of Hawaii to find and investigate the wreckage.

Permits were finally secured, Richard W. Rogers (known as "Captain Rick") volunteered his research vessel Pilialoha outfitted with a proton magnetometer, and in July 1995 the search began.