Vice-Admiral Khanykov reported to St Petersburg, in a dispatch discussed there on 16 May [O.S.

5 May] 1796, that he had purchased Dispatch at the behest of Catherine the Great, and that she was being fitted out and would be handed over to Russia.

[3] Dispatch was transferred to Russia under an Admiralty Order dated 28 January 1796.

In May 1797 she sailed with Makarov's First Division from Kronstadt, arriving in Britain in July.

Initially, she served primarily as an advice boat, carrying messages between flagships.