[2] Pegasus continued on with Rodney to Gibraltar and then to the West Indies where she participated in the inconclusive Battle of Martinique in April 1780.

Controlling his disappointment, Harvey conducted the affair with "such discretion as secured to him the lasting friendship of His Royal Highness".

From 1786 to 1788, Pegasus, under Prince William Henry, was largely assigned to patrol the east coast of British North America, as well as the West Indies.

Other officers or crew aboard Pegasus at this time who would rise in rank were Thomas Byam Martin, John Pasco, and Charles Rowley.

Thirteen days later she was with the Channel Fleet, escorting the Newfoundland trade and West Indian convoys while they were in home waters.

In May–June 1794 the Channel Fleet fought the Battle of the Glorious First of June, during which it captured six ships of the line and sank a seventh.

While under the command of Robert Barlow, who had been posted to Pegasus, she had served as a repeating ship for Admiral Howe's signals at the battle.

In May 1796 news reached Admiral Adam Duncan, operating in the North Sea,[8] that a Dutch squadron consisting of the 36-gun Argo and three brigs and a cutter had departed Flickerve, Norway, bound for the Texel.

[9][10] The British intercepted the Dutch at 5am on 12 May, with Phoenix and Leopard chasing Argo, while Pegasus and Sylph made after the brigs.

Because Pegasus served in the navy's Egyptian campaign, her officers and crew qualified for the clasp "Egypt" to the Naval General Service Medal that the Admiralty authorised in 1850 to all surviving claimants.