She was launched at Plymouth dockyard on 17 November 1804, and was the only ship built to her draught, designed by Sir John Henslow.

[1] Nonetheless, she did also take on some non-Mediterranean duties in the post-Waterloo period, such as to transport convicts to the colony of New South Wales.

In 1818–1819, for example, the ship carried 160 male convicts to Sydney from Portsmouth sailing on 20 November and arriving 18 June.

[5][6] Heavily-painted timbers ended up being used to fire local bakeries, which led to an outbreak of lead poisoning on the island.

[7] A statue of the Virgin Mary, in her mantle as Queen of Heaven, was carved from a section of the ship's main mast and can be seen in the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul's Shipwreck in Valletta.