Built in Bordeaux as a privateer corvette, Éole was requisitioned and brought into service in the French Navy in September 1799, and commissioned in Rochefort.

[1][7] At some point between 28 February and 20 May 1800, Nimrod captured the Spanish felucca Victoria, which was sailing from Tobasco to Jamaica with a cargo of specie, logwood, and cochineal.

He then served on the Mount's Bays station where he also had the brig-sloop Seagull, and two Revenue cutters under his command.

[9] In late November Nimrod detained and sent into Portsmouth Diana, Bunting, master, which had been sailing from Lisbon to Amsterdam.

[14] A few days later Nimrod detained and sent into Plymouth Hindemann, of Bremen, which had been sailing from Bordeaux to Embden.

[7] Nimrod recaptured a brig that the French privateer Dame Ernouf had captured before herself falling prey to HMS Curieux.

[17] In January 1805 Nimrod recaptured the American ship Ardent, which had been carrying coffee and logwood when a French privateer had captured her.

On 4 August 1807 the merchants of Essequibo and Demerara presented Cameron with a sword worth 100 guineas in recognition of his services in the protection of the colony and its trade.

[7] At some point Spear and Nimrod captured the Spanish packet Firmeza, which had been sailing from Cadiz to Cartagena, Colombia.

[20] On 27 July 1807, Nimrod captured the French privateer schooner Nouvelle Enterprise some 20 leagues east of Barbados.

Nouvelle Enterprise, of Guadeloupe, was armed with a 12-pounder gun and four carronades, and had a crew of 55 men under the command of Captain Francis Penaud.

From April to mid-June 1808 Nimrod and Cherub cruised in company, and agreed to share any prizes they captured.

[f] Her crew abandoned her and escaped ashore, leaving behind one man who was sick and who died the next day.

[25] Lastly, on 22 May, Cherub and Nimrod jointly captured a Spanish letter of marque brig after a brief exchange of fire when the British sent in a boarding party in boats after her crew had run her ashore.

[27][g] Nimrod, Circe, and Cygnet shared in the proceeds of the American schooner Minerva, forwarded from Saint Christoper.

The "Principal Officers and Commissioners of His Majesty's Navy" offered "Nimrod Brig, of 345 Tons" for sale at Deptford on 21 February 1811.

[33] Nimrod, William Perry, master, left Britain on 26 September 1811 with destination the Galapagos, However, she was reported to have been chased into port on 1 November by a French privateer.

American records report that in March 1813 Captain David Porter and the USS Essex captured the Peruvian warship Nereyda.

British ships were then free to sail to India or the Indian Ocean under a licence from the EIC.