[4] Fortitude was part of a convoy of Indiamen and transports under the escort of a British squadron under Commodore George Johnstone, who was sailing to capture the Cape Colony.

On 16 April the French attacked the British squadron and convoy at the battle of Porto Praya, off São Tiago.

The French captured Fortitude, but as her captors towed her out to sea, her crew and the troops of the 92nd Regiment of Foot she was transporting,[6] re-captured her; she rejoined the British convoy a few days later.

[9] In early July 1782, during the run-up of the Battle of Negapatam, Suffren sent Fortitude and Yarmouth (a 24-gun British storeship that Fine had also captured[10]) to Île de France (Mauritius).

The EIC purchased her in October at Madras for Rs.35,000, and used her to convey General Stuart and his staff back to England.

[16] Cowper's replacement, Captain Edward Manning, left the Downs on 26 December 1788, bound for St Helena, Benkulen, and China.

Pitt reached St Helena on 29 March 1789 and Benkulen on 14 July, and arrived at Whampoa on 30 November.

She crossed the Second Bar on 19 February 1790, reached St Helena on 11 June, and arrived at the Downs on 7 August.

[3] Under Manning's command, Pitt sailed from Yarmouth Roads, England on 17 July 1791, with 352 male and 58 female convicts.

She also carried Lieutenant-Governor Francis Grose and a company of the New South Wales Corps, as well as wives and children of the passengers and convicts.

At the Cape, the Dutch authorities later recaptured the escapee from Pitt, the convicted forger and future Australian artist Thomas Watling, and put him aboard Royal Admiral.

(Pitt, Royal Admiral, and Kitty, the three convict transports that arrived in Australia in 1792, are often referred to as the Fourth Fleet.)

Francis was a 41-ton (bm) colonial schooner that was partially constructed at the Deptford Dockyard, England, and loaded aboard Pitt in frame.

She reached the Cape on 21 March 1793, St Helena on 14 April, Cork on 29 June, and Portsmouth on 13 July.

[3] Manning was issued his first letter of marque on 23 April 1793,[5] shortly after war began, and effectively while Pitt was between St Helena and home.

Homeward bound, she passed Saugor on 18 February 1795, reached St Helena on 18 June and the River Shannon on 11 September, and arrived at the Downs on 15 October.

[19] Gerrard sued the EIC for £4,000 for extra expenses, including £2,500 loss on the sale of investments "under prime costs".

[20] Homeward bound, Pitt passed Saugor on 24 December, reached the Cape on 23 April 1798, and arrived at the Downs on 2 August.