She served in the French Revolutionary and the Napoleonic Wars in the Channel, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even briefly in the Baltic against the Russians.

[8] Cerberus, in company with Magnanime and Diana, chased the privateer brig Franklin into the hands of Sir John Borlase Warren's squadron on 1 November.

[9] Hirondelle, Franklin (or Franklyn) and three privateers that Santa Margarita and Dryad had captured had formed a small squadron that had left Brest to scour the English Channel.

[9] On 11 May 1797, Cerberus was on her way back to Cork from convoying vessels towards Newfoundland and the West Indies when she captured the French privateer Dungerquoise.

Cerberus also recaptured the Danish ship Graff Bernstorff, which was carrying a cargo of iron and grain from St. Michael's to Lisbon.

Apparently, in order to escape Cerberus, Buonaparte threw many of her guns and stores overboard, necessitating her return to Bordeaux.

[24] Next day, Cerberus was among the many British ships that shared in the proceeds of the capture of Nostra Senora de la Solidad.

Saumarez commanded a small squadron comprising the sloops of war Charwell and Kite, the schooner Eling, the cutter Carteret, and the bomb vessels Sulphur and Terror.

[30] Cerberus was assigned to operate of the English and French coasts by 1804 and sailed from the Guernsey Roads on the afternoon of 25 January 1804.

[35] A strange sail was spotted at daylight and Cerberus gave chase, eventually overhauling and capturing her quarry.

[39] By December 1806 Cerberus was in the West Indies, and in company with Circe was reconnoitering the ports of Guadeloupe and Îles des Saintes.

Cerberus gave chase, cutting them off from the port and forcing them to anchor close to shore, under cover of a battery near the Pearl Rock.

They took Cerberus's boats in under heavy cannon and small arms fire; they boarded the schooner and sloop and brought them out.

Though the attack was successful, Lieutenant Coote was blinded and a musket ball hit George Sayer in the leg.

[40] The vessels captured or recaptured may have been a schooner of unknown name and the cutter Sally for which prize money was paid in September 1809.

In April 1807 she was part of a squadron under the command of Admiral, the Honourable Sir Alexander Cochrane, that captured the Telemaco.

[48][i] On 20 October, Latona, Circe, Galatea, Cerberus, Cygnet, Pert, and Hart shared in the capture of the Danish schooner Danske Patriot.

Pigot landed his force early on 2 March some two miles from Grand Bourg and the garrison duly capitulated.

[l] Cerberus remained in the area, and on 29 March and in company with Lilly, Pelican, Express, Swinger, and Mosambique, sailed from Marie-Galante to attack the island of La Désirade.

They arrived on 30 March and sent in a landing party of seamen and marines from the vessels of the squadron, all under the overall command of Captain Sherriff of Lily.

Boats from Active reinforced the shore parties, enabling them repel, at bayonet point, a counterattack by more French troops.

[59] Prize taking continued the following year when Captain Whitby discovered four vessels anchored at Pestichi on 4 February 1811.

The British took three trabaccolos, one the Carlo Grimaldi, and sent them off to Lissa, whilst burning a fourth after removing its cargo to Active.

[60] On 12 February boats from Cerberus and Active set out to secure a number of vessels spotted moored at Ortano.

On 11 March, Cerberus, along with Active, Volage and Amphion engaged an enemy force consisting of five frigates, a corvette, a brig, two schooners and a xebec in what became known as the Battle of Lissa.

[3] On 16 June 1812 boats from HMS Unite, Orlando, and Cerberus captured three vessels of from eighty to one hundred tons in the small port of Badisea, near Otranto.

[62] On 29 January 1813, boats from Cerberus captured a trabaccolo of two guns, sailing to Corfu, heavily laden with a cargo of corn and flour.

[64] Then on 13 March, she took the French galiot Veloce, which was armed with one 18-pounder and which had a crew of 22 men, under the command of officier de flottile Martinenq.

[n] On 19 March, boats from Cerberus and Apollo destroyed several vessels, a battery and a tower three miles northwest of the port of Monopoli near Bari.

[66] Then on 11 April, Apollo and Cerberus took Devil's Island, near the north entrance to Corfu, and thereby captured a brig and a trabaccolo bringing in grain.