Serving off the coast of France, especially around Le Havre and Cherbourg, she captured several French privateers and recaptured a British merchant ship in a cutting out expedition.

Fast frigates that had necessarily been built lighter were found to not operate well in these conditions, and so speed was sacrificed for strength specifically for these services.

[2] This meant she differed considerably from the name-ship of the class, HMS Penelope, which was provided with the standard armament and as such had fewer 32-pounder carronades (eight) and more 9-pounder long guns (eight).

[10][11] Having returned from this duty, Jason began to serve in the English Channel as part of a squadron of eight frigates commanded by Commodore Charles Cunningham, frequently sailing on cruises out of Portsmouth.

[2][6][12] In early March she detained the Danish brig Bontine while sailing with the 46-gun frigate HMS Loire, taking the vessel in to Portsmouth.

[15][16] By the beginning of April Yorke had left Jason, and he was temporarily replaced by Lieutenant Woodley Losack who served as her acting captain.

[6][22] Captain the Honourable John Murray replaced Ballard in around July of the same year, and Jason continued to serve in the English Channel.

[Note 3][9][6] The weather at the time of the incident was good, described by historian Terence Grocott as a "beautiful day", and the entire crew was saved with help from the local French population.

[24] Jason was still grounded on 5 August, but with the French making efforts to recover the frigate and her armament, Lieutenant Ross of the 16-gun brig-sloop HMS Weazle made an attempt to burn her wreck.