EIC voyage #1 (1781–1783): Captain Arthur Morris sailed from Portsmouth on 13 March 1781, bound for Madras and China as part of a convoy of Indiamen accompanying a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone.

[4] At about the same time as the British sailed, a French squadron under the command of Bailli de Suffren left France.

Both squadrons were en route to the Cape of Good Hope, the British to take it from the Dutch, the French aiming to help defend it and French possessions in the Indian Ocean, including Rodriguez Island, Ile Bourbon (Réunion), Île de France (Mauritius), and Pondicherry.

Due to the unexpected nature of the encounter, neither fleet was prepared for the engagement and the result was an inconclusive battle in which the French warships sustained more damage than did the British.

[3] Essex left Bombay on 8 August in company with the Indiamen Asia, Locko, and Osterley, and the country ship Shah Byram Gore.

As the squadron was sailing through the Strait of Malacca, on 9 September the ships encountered the 38-gun French frigate Pourvoyeuse, which was under the command of Captain de Lannuguy-Tromelin.

Homeward bound, Essex crossed the Second Bar on 19 December, reached St Helena on 18 June 1783, and arrived at the Downs on 5 October.

[3] EIC voyage #2 (1785–1786): Captain John Strover sailed from The Downs on 7 January 1785, bound for Madras and China.

Homeward bound, Essex crossed the Second Bar on 3 February 1786, reached St Helena on 8 June, and arrived at the Downs on 14 August.

[3] EIC voyage #3 (1788–1789): Captain Strover sailed from The Downs on 20 January 1788, bound for St Helena and China.

Homeward bound, Essex crossed the Second Bar on 8 February 1789, reached St Helena on 4 May, and arrived at the Downs on 8 July.

[2] The British government held Essex at Portsmouth, together with a number of other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius).

He placed the merchantmen under Strover's overall command and charged him with organizing a defence should the Dutch evade the Royal Navy and attack Simon's Bay.