Originally a French vessel, she was captured at Calvi on 10 August 1794 and first saw British service in the English Channel, where she helped to contain enemy privateering.

[5] In 1794, Melpomène was at Calvi, Corsica,[2] when the entire island was subject to a blockade by a Royal Navy Fleet under Lord Hood.

[2][10][11] On 3 August 1798, Melpomene was cruising off the north coast of Brittany with HMS Childers when a French brig, Adventurier, and accompanying merchant ships were discovered in the bay of Corréjou.

The bad weather which had helped the attackers remain undetected during their approach became a hindrance as the captured vessel was worked out to sea but, despite having to endure a two-hour bombardment from the shore batteries, no further casualties were suffered.

[13][14] Following a failed French invasion of Ireland in 1798, the Channel Fleet was on high alert and prepared for the next attempt which was made in August.

A French fleet sent in support, under Jean-Baptiste-François Bompart, was routed at the Battle of Tory Island on 12 October and a squadron of four frigates under commodore Daniel Savary was sent to escort the survivors back to France.

[18] Melpomene continued her crusade against privateering, capturing Tigre on 17 November and the 16-gun Zele in the Bay of Biscay on 28 February following, until she was called to join Andrew Mitchell's squadron for an Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland in August 1799.

A combined fleet under Admiral Lord Duncan, comprising eight ships-of-the-line, three fourth rates and six frigates, one of which was Melpomene, arrived off Texel on 22 August.

At the same time, a single British frigate, HMS Circe, entered the Nieuwe Diep and captured the ships there which were laid up in ordinary.

Three of the frigates, none of which were Melpomene, grounded in the narrow channel, but all managed to get off and join their compatriots in line opposite the Dutch, who accepted an offer to surrender and handed over their ships without a shot being fired on either side.

[21] In April 1800, Melpomene and HMS Magnanime were off the coast of Senegal when word was received of three French frigates moored under the gun batteries on the island of Gorée.

In need of reinforcements, Hamilton had his ship make for Praia, Cape Verde, where he knew the 64-gun HMS Ruby to be revictualing.

As they approached, the brig opened fire sinking two of the British boats but the remainder made it alongside and after a short struggle, succeeded in boarding and capturing her.

[25][26] Le Havre was important at the time, harbouring a large number of vessels required by Napoleon's invasion force at Boulogne.

Oliver's squadron, comprising Melpomene, sloops, bomb-vessels and other small craft, was stationed off the port to prevent any enemy joining, or those inside, escaping.

[27] In December 1805, Peter Parker was appointed as Melpomene's commander, serving in the Mediterranean but returning home at the end of 1807 before leaving for Jamaica in the April following.

At the beginning of July, she was sent by the Commander-in-Chief, Admiral James Saumarez, to cruise east of Nargen Island with HMS Implacable.

They sailed into Narva Bay and there captured nine vessels laden with timber, spars and cordage, belonging to the Russian Emperor.

[31] After searching all the creeks and inlets along the coast but finding nothing else, attention switched to the north side of the Gulf where the boats of Implacable, Melpomene and Prometheus captured three more vessels among the many islands that fringe Finland.

[32] They also discovered eight Russian gunboats, each mounting a 32 and a 24-pounder gun, and carrying a crew of 46 men, protecting a convoy of merchantmen near Hango Head.

Determined to capture or destroy as much of the convoy as possible, on 7 July at 21:00, 270 men from Melpomene, HMS Bellerophon and Implacable set off in 17 of the ships' boats.

She served in the Mediterranean until 16 March 1814, when she sailed to North America under Robert Rowley, who had taken command in October the previous year.