She was launched in Lorient, France, on 20 November 1786 and commissioned under Captain de Ferrières in 1787.

In September 1793, Capricieuse was renamed Charente and manned by the crew of the French Navy frigate Néréide.

She took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver and in the Expédition d'Irlande, where she shadowed Trajan.

In late March 1798, under Commander Bruillac, she battled a Royal Navy force off Gironde, France.

Charente was lost on 31 October 1799, when she ran aground at the entrance of the river Blavet on the Brittany coast of France.