Assistance was ordered from the Liverpool yard of Peter Baker on 11 February 1778, laid down there on 4 July that year, and launched on 12 March 1781.

[1] The easing of tensions led to Assistance being paid off in 1791, before recommissioning the following year under Captain John Samuel Smith in order to serve off North America again.

[1] Captain Henry Mowatt was in command from May 1795, returning the Assistance to Halifax in March 1796, where he captured the 40-gun French frigate Elizabeth on 28 August 1796.

By late afternoon Captain Lee accepted that Assistance was stuck fast and unable to sail; he and the crew then abandoned ship.

Two marines drowned while attempting to swim to one of the fishing boats, but the remainder of the crew were safely carried to shore in the Flemish craft.

Blame for Assistance's loss was laid at the feet of her pilots, Watson Riches and Edmund Coleman, who were found to have acted negligently in not guiding the ship clear of the charted sandbanks off the Gravelines shore.

For his part, Captain Lee was admonished for placing the too much trust in the pilots, and for not showing due regard for the safety of his ship.