On 27 March 1808, Boadicea, Medusa, cutter Alphea, and schooner Ant captured 25 French fishing vessels.

[1] On 23 October a court martial aboard Salvador del Mundo in the Hamoaze dismissed Lieutenant Gibbons from Alphea.

On 14 August he had discovered that Mrs. Bentley, the wife of a Royal Marine corporal, was on board Alphea after he had ordered that she not be admitted to the ship.

[10] When Alphea returned to Britain, the Admiralty dismissed Jones from his command for having detained an American vessel at the commencement of the war with the U.S., in advance of having received authorization.

[11] In May 1813 Alphea, under the command of Lieutenant M'Donald, supported a small squadron of three British brigs, Lyra, Royalist, and Sparrow, which had come to aid the Spanish garrison at Castro Urdiales, which a French force was besieging.

The French eventually prevailed and the British vessels, including Alphea, helped evacuate the Spanish troops and townspeople.

The two vessels exchanged broadsides and at one point Alphea repulsed a boarding attempt, causing heavy casualties to the French.

[13] French accounts report that Renard could not maneuver in the calm winds and the men in the water, having been blinded by the explosion, could not swim toward her.