She convoyed Dutch East Indiamen between the Cape of Good Hope and Europe until HMS Psyche captured her at Samarang in 1807.

She became an opium trader sailing between India and Canton, and was broken up near Hong Kong in August 1833.

In 1791 Scipio was under the command of Captain Cornelius de Jong van Rodenburgh, who sailed her to Cape of Good Hope, in company with the Dutch naval brig Komeet, leaving on 17 December 1791.

These eight sailed again on 22 May, but near Saint Helena they encountered British warships, which had heard that France had overrun the Netherlands and that the Batavian Republic was now a French ally.

The British warships captured the Dutch vessels on 14 June and sent them to the River Shannon in Ireland.

[8] The Dutch captains decide to avoid the Channel and instead sail via the Shetland Islands to ports in then-neutral Norway.

[10] Then Unicorn parted company with the rest of the squadron and after a chase of 13 hours captured Comet (Komeet).

[13] Scipio could not escape Bergen, so de Jong was ordered to return to Holland overland, which he did, taking with him only his servant and a lieutenant.

His father, Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew, "Commander in Chief of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in the East Indies", sent Psyche and Caroline to reconnoitre the port of Surabaya.

[16] On 30 August Psyche and Caroline captured a ship from Batavia and from her learned the disposition of the Dutch navy in the area.

[16] Psyche arrived at Samarang at midnight and next morning her boats captured and brought out from under the fire of shore batteries an armed 8-gun schooner and a large merchant brig.

[17] By November 1807 Scipio, since (unofficially) renamed to Samarang, was under the command of Lieutenant Richard Buck, formerly of Culloden.

On 20 November Samarang sailed from Malacca as part of the squadron under Sir Edward Pellew that aimed to attack Dutch forces on Java.

British operations were complete by 11 December and Pellew then ordered the squadron to withdraw and return to India.

Lieutenant Richard Spencer of Cornwallis received promotion to Commander on 8 April 1808 and was appointed to Samarang.

On their way, on 6 February Dover captured the Dutch brig-of-war Rambang; Samarang shared in the prize money by agreement.

[19] The British launched their attack on 16 February capturing one battery that overlooked the port, the city of Ambon, and Fort Victoria.

The Dutch commander committed suicide by taking poison after he realized that he had surrendered to what was a relatively weak British force.

[25] She had on board 10,000 dollars, the payroll for the Dutch garrison at Banda Neira, provisions, and a doctor, nurse, and 20 infants, on their way to conduct a vaccination campaign.

[28] Six months later, between 13 and 20 September, Blanche and Samarang captured four junks: Kemingsing, Keminguan, Teinpochy, and Kemptionsing.

[26] The day before Spencer left Samarang the petty officers and men of the ship's company presented Spencer with a letter in which they thanked him for his ..."fatherly conduct and universal attention to everything conducive to their health and comfort...", and asking his help in arranging for them to commission a sword worth 100 guineas for them to present to him.

[32][k] In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Java" to the surviving claimants from the campaign.

When she returned the next day, having developed many leaks requiring repairs, it was discovered that she had impressed (or recruited) the convicts.

[40] However, a list of vessels registered at Bombay in 1829 showed Samarang, "Java prize, 1819", with John Gower, master, and Remington, Crawford, and Co., owners.

[41] On 7 August 1833 Captain Grant, the marine superintendent for Jardine Matheson & Co., had Samarang pulled up on the beach at Tsinkeo Bay and broken up.

In the subsequent melee, the British seized a local, but released him when he agreed to return to his village and retrieve the stolen materials.

However, an official inquiry resulted that took some time to smooth over the affair, with the assistance of a made up story and some bribes.