At the time of her capture, Havik, under the command of Lieutenant Pieter Bessemer (or Bezemer), was armed with 18 guns and had a crew of 76 men.

[4] Commander Charles Ekins was appointed to HMS Echo, supposed to be at the Cape of Good Hope, but found, on his arrival, that she had been condemned and broken up.

The Royal Navy commissioned her under Commander Philip Bartholomew that month with the role of cruising and escorting convoys.

[1] On 28 March 1799, Havik and the hired armed brig Telegraph sailed from Plymouth for the Île de Batz.

[b] One month after leaving Plymouth Havik returned, escorting two French brigs and a Dutch East Indiaman, Zeeland, which was sailing from Tranquebar to Copenhagen.

[c] Havick was under Batholomew's command and had been tasked with patrolling between the Channel Islands and the Île de Batz so she anchored in St Aubyn's Bay, Jersey in November 1800 to take on a local pilot.

The crew cut away her masts and threw her guns overboard, but Havick nevertheless filled with water and settled into the sand.

[16] Neither Havick nor Pelican suffered any casualties,[17] though the crews were subject to waves breaking over them for six hours until the tide, which had risen 32 feet (9.8 m) (perpendicular), providentially receded.

Much of the material recovered was metal, including musket and cannon shot, a candle snuffer, and large quantities of copper plates and nails used in the hull sheathing; some woodwork was also discovered.