She was variously stationed in English home waters, the Baltic, the Caribbean, and off the coast of Spain, and was responsible for the capture of at least seven enemy vessels during her fifteen years at sea.

The gun-brigs were intended to bolster the Royal Navy's capacity to hunt small French privateers, and to act as anti-invasion craft should France attempt to land troops in the British Isles.

[3] Constant's crew complement was 35, including a Navy Lieutenant, a sailing master, a surgeon's mate, midshipman, six petty officers and 25 able or ordinary seamen.

In April 1803 she sailed to Leith in Scotland for patrols in the North Sea, including to hunt for privateers seeking to attack the British whaling fleet.

The captured vessels were auctioned for prize money at Great Yarmouth in November 1806 and February 1807, alongside their assorted cargoes of tallow, wine and herring.

[4][5][b] Constant may also have recaptured the British merchant ship Fortune which had been seized by a French privateer in February 1807 during a voyage from Newcastle upon Tyne to Jamaica.

[3] On 5 September 1810 she was in company with the 38-gun HMS Surveillante off the Loire River in France, when their crews observed a French merchant convoy heading south towards the Gulf of Morbihan.

The British vessels gave chase and forced a brig in the convoy to seek shelter close to shore where she was protected by two batteries of French cannons.

Constant was also brought close to shore to support the attack, with Stokes' crew exchanging fire with French troops located on the beach and in caves.