At launch, Charon's design incorporated a number of technological advancements, including copper sheathing on her hull and a ship-board chain pump.

[3] By mid-1781, Charon was serving on the East Coast of the United States in support of British General Cornwallis' invasion of the American South.

When Cornwallis and his army withdrew into the town of Yorktown, Virginia, Charon became one of around 70 ships trapped in the York River by an overwhelmingly superior French fleet under the compte de Grasse.

Eventually a French shot landed in Charon's sail locker, setting the ship on fire and causing her to burn to the waterline.

[1][8] In the days following the loss of Charon, the British defenders of Yorktown continued to grow more desperate, eventually surrendering to allied Franco-American army on 19 October.