[3] Under Lieutenant Yset, she took part in the Caribbean campaign led by Admiral Louis Thomas Villaret de Joyeuse in 1803.

[4] On 28 June 1803, as she sailed with the frigate Poursuivante, she encountered a British convoy off San Domingo, part of the Blockade of Saint-Domingue.

One of the escorts, HMS Goliath, was sailing inshore off Cape Nicholas Mole, to try to find two vessels seen earlier.

[5][6] In Captain James Brisbane's words, Mignonne was a "remarkable fast sailing Ship Corvette".

Desiree was towing her to Port Royal when on 9 July, at 0100 hours, a bolt of lightning struck Mignonne, killing three seamen, injuring five (or nine), and causing some damage to the ship.