The Cormorant was the name-ship of the initial batch of six ship-rigged sloops of the Cormorant Class ordered in February 1793 to a joint design by Sir John Henslow and William Rule, shortly after the outbreak of the French Revolutionary Wars.

After launch, she was taken down the Thames to Deptford Naval Dockyard, where she was masted and completed on 10 March 1794.

[1] Cormorant was at Plymouth on 20 January 1795 and so shared in the proceeds of the detention of the Dutch naval vessels, East Indiamen, and other merchant vessels that were in port on the outbreak of war between Britain and the Netherlands.

On Christmas Eve 1796, Cormorant caught fire by accident at Port-au-Prince and blew up; 95 of her crew were killed (including Gott).

[6] A newspaper reported that Gott had been giving a party to celebrate his accession to the command of Cormorant when the accident occurred.