HMS Charlotte was a mercantile schooner that Royal Navy hired or chartered in 1796 (or earlier), purchased in 1797 and commissioned in 1798.

A letter from Commander James Athol Wood of Favourite reporting on the recapture of a vessel on 9 March 1796, states that he put "The Officers on Board the Charlotte Sloop, Lieutenant Williams...".

Shortly thereafter, on 16 October 1798 the French 14-gun privateer Enfant Prodigue captured Charlotte off Cap Français or Cape François, Hispaniola.

[6] A second, smaller schooner and two large armed launches supported Enfant Prodigue in the attack on Charlotte, which suffered considerable damage.

Charlotte's low casualty rate was a consequence of the French tactic of firing high to disable rigging.