After Hermione surrendered, her captors found that she carried a large cargo of gold and silver that would lead to the greatest single amount of prize money awarded to the crew of a British warship.

The naval architect Sir Thomas Slade designed the class to the dimensions of HMS Tartar, which had been launched in 1756 and was responsible for capturing five French privateers in her first twelve months at sea.

[3] The Admiralty issued contracts for Active's construction to commercial shipwright Thomas Stanton of Rotherhithe on 23 May 1757, with the stipulation that he complete the work within nine months.

[4][a] In late February 1758 Active sailed to Deptford Dockyard to receive her guns and naval stores,[4][b] and to embark her crew of 200 officers and men.

[3] Active was commissioned in January 1758 under the command of Captain Richard Hughes, entering Navy service during the early stages of the Seven Years' War against France.

Active then joined Admiral Edward Boscawen's Mediterranean fleet and spent several uneventful months cruising off the French port of Toulon.

[8] She returned to England in December 1759, escorting a transport carrying cannons salvaged from wrecked French vessels after the Battle of Quiberon Bay.

[9] The frigate next saw action on 31 May 1762, when in company with HMS Favourite she chased down and captured the Spanish treasure ship Hermione off Cape St Mary.

[19] In early 1763 as war with France was drawing to a close, the Navy declared Active surplus to requirements and returned her to Deptford Dockyard for decommissioning.

After several months in port she returned to sea in August 1763 under Captain Robert Carkett and sailed for the Royal Navy's Jamaica station on 7 October.

At his request, Admiralty reassigned Active to Newfoundland so that he could recover in what was considered a more healthy climate than that of the Caribbean; but his condition did not improve and on 11 October he transferred to another vessel and returned to England.