Benjamin Dubois built the six members of the class at Saint-Malo Montmarin to a 3 October 1787 design by Pierre-Alexandre-Laurent Forfait, and all were launched in 1788.

In September 1794 a French naval squadron comprising the razee Experiment under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Arnaud, Vigilance, Félicité, Épervier, and Mutine was cruising the West African coast, destroying British factories and shipping.

[6] They captured Harpy, which they sent back to France, and another Sierra Leone Company ship, Thornton, which they destroyed.

[7] Epervier was operating as a French privateer when HMS Cerberus, under the command of Captain John Drew, captured her.

Cerberus was on the Irish station when on 12 and 14 November 1797 she captured two French privateers, Epervier and Renard.

[8] Lloyd's List reported Cerberus's capture of two privateers, one of 30 guns and one of 18, and the arrival of both at Cork.