Built as Maréchal de Broglie for private owners and transferred to the French East India Company, the ship sailed two journeys to China as a merchantman.

[1] On 16 February 1780, under Captain Bouvet de Précourt,[2] Ajax departed Lorient with Protée, Éléphant and Charmante, escorting a convoy bound for India.

They both maneuvered to this effect, but then Tromelin, on Annibal, countermanded the order by signaling Ajax and Flamand to return to their post in the line of battle.

[1] In July 1782, in the wake of the Battle of Negapatam, Suffren appointed Lieutenant de Beaumont le Maître to replace Bouvet.

[6] In the night of 12 January 1783, chasing the frigate Fine which she had mistaken for a privateer, HMS Coventry (1757) sailed into Ganjam Roads, where Suffren's Héros, Illustre, Ajax and Brillant were at anchor.