[1] On 19 June 1793, as she sailed off Guernsey under Lieutenant de vaisseau Mullon, she encountered HMS Nymphe, under Captain Edward Pellew.

During the short but sharp action, Cléopâtre lost her mizzenmast and wheel, and the ship, being unmanageable, fell foul of Nymphe.

In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Nymphe 18 June 1793" to the four surviving claimants from the action.

In June 1794 Oiseau and Argonaut seized fourteen French vessels of a convoy of 25, all loaded with flour, naval stores, beef, and pork.

[6] On 8 January 1795, Argonaut captured the French Republican warship Esperance on the North America Station.

[8] Because she was captured in good order and sailed well, Rear Admiral Murray put a British crew aboard and sent Esperance out on patrol with Lynx on 31 January.

[9] On Monday, 26 January 1801, at 8.00 a.m., at 45°N 12°W / 45°N 12°W / 45; -12, Oiseux, under Captain Samuel Hood Linzee fell in with and chased Dédaigneuse, which was bound from Cayenne to Rochefort with despatches.

Sirius was the only British ship to sustain any damage (rigging, sails, main-yard and bowsprit) in the encounter and there were no fatalities on the English side.

Captain Linzee declared the encounter a long and anxious chase of 42 hours and acknowledged a gallant resistance on the part of Dédaigneuse.

The next day Wolverene brought Neptunus into Portsmouth, together with her cargo of naval stores that Wight had captured [11][12] In February 1801 Captain Lord Augustus Fitzroy assumed command.

[4] In mid-afternoon on 16 March the privateer schooner Lord Nelson, Captain Humphrey Gibson, was between the Isle of Wight and Portland when a lugger came into sight, under chase by a larger vessel.

The lugger turned out to be the French privateer Espoir, of 14 guns and 75 men, under the command of M. Alegis Ballet.