Menelaus entered service in 1810 under the command of Captain Peter Parker, and within weeks of commissioning was involved in the suppression of a mutiny aboard HMS Africaine.

In the summer of 1810, Parker was ordered to sail for the Indian Ocean to reinforce the squadron operating against Île de France and participated in the capture of the island in December 1810.

[Note 1] In 1812, Menelaus was part of the blockade of Toulon in the Mediterranean and operated against coastal harbours, shipping and privateers off the southern coast of France with some success.

[4] One of the ships crewman, Midshipman Frederick Chamier wrote "Our duty consisted in an eternal annoyance of the enemy, and therefore night and day we were employed in offensive operations..."[5] Thereafter, Peter Parker was killed at the Battle of Caulk's Field in Kent County, Maryland, on 30 August 1814.

[Note 3] The attack took place at Corrijou (Koréjou, east of Abervrach on the coast of Brittany), and during the action Ferret was able to prevent the escape of a French man-of-war brig that she forced ashore.