Rinaldo was serving in the English Channel Fleet when, on 3 September 1811, she and Redpole attacked the Boulogne flotilla despite being outnumbered.

Rinaldo and Redpole badly damaged the 12-gun Ville de Lyon, which was subsequently boarded and captured by men from Naiad.

[1][2] They were not as well armed nor as highly regarded as the larger Cruizer class[2] but were nimble; quick to change tack and, with a smaller crew, more economical to run.

[3] The Admiralty ordered Rinaldo on 31 December 1807 and work began in the March following, when her keel was laid down at the yard of John Dudman & Co. in Deptford on the south bank of the Thames.

[4] Carronades were lighter and so could be manoeuvred with fewer men and had a faster rate of fire but a much shorter range than the long guns.

[6] Recommissioned under Commander James Anderson in November 1809, Rinaldo captured a smuggler on 5 January 1810[7] and a sloop, Hope, on 21 September.

[8] Rinaldo was cruising off Dover on the night of 7 December when she discovered a pair of French armed luggers between her and the English shoreline, which, on seeing her, attempted to run for their own coast.

One of the vessels, Marauder, after engaging in a running fight, tried to cross in front of the British brig but was thwarted when the latter closed and the two became entangled.

Rather than indulge in what was thought to be a futile chase, Anderson decided to lure the privateers to him by giving the impression he was fleeing and thus appearing as a potential prize.

[12] Seeing an opportunity to escape, the previously struck vessel made off and was joined by her compatriots, the third and fourth privateers, which had since arrived on the scene.

[8] In 1811, Rinaldo was attached to the Western Squadron in the English Channel to keep an eye on Napoleon Bonaparte's invasion fleet at Boulogne.

On 3 September movement was detected among the Boulogne flotilla and Rinaldo and HMS Redpole took up a position to windward in order to attack should any enemy vessels stray too far from the shore.

[14] On 20 September, Napoleon arrived to inspect his invasion fleet and, on learning that HMS Naiad was lying off the coast, ordered Rear Admiral Baste to take a division of 12-gun prames, a bomb vessel and ten 4-gun brigs, and attack her.

Naiad, anchored with springs,[a] forced the French to retreat beneath the shore batteries after an hour-and-a-half-long engagement at distance.