Completed in August 1794, Stag spent much of her service in home waters, where she worked to protect British shipping from French privateers.

In an action on 22 August 1795, Stag engaged, and forced the surrender of, the Dutch frigate Alliante, and took part in the chase that ended with the capture of Bonne Citoyenne by HMS Phaeton on 10 March 1796.

In March 1800, Stag joined John Borlase Warren's squadron and took part in the unsuccessful Ferrol Expedition that August.

At the end of the month, she was in a detachment under Samuel Hood that captured an 18-gun French privateer, Gueppe, in a cutting-out expedition in the Narrows of Redondela.

Designed by John Henslow, she was ordered by the Admiralty on 9 December 1790 and her keel, of 113 feet 6+1⁄8 inches (34.6 m) was laid down in March 1792 at Chatham Dockyard.

[2] On the 22nd, the squadron was cruising off the coast of Norway when at around 13:00, it spotted two ships and a cutter to windward and heading towards shore on a larboard tack.

After an hour's fighting, Stag managed to force the surrender of her larger opponent but Argo, despite suffering much damage, and Vlugheld escaped into port at 17:30.

Badly damaged and separated from the others by a storm in the Bay of Biscay, she was chased by the British frigate squadron and eventually overhauled by Phaeton to which she surrendered to after a few shots.

[17] On the night of 26 December, Stag was anchored in Cawsand Bay when she was visited by four customs officers, one of whom appeared to be seriously injured but on closer inspection by the ship's surgeon was revealed to be dead.

Acting on information they had received, the revenue men had taken a boat out to Penlee Point where they discovered a large sloop and several smaller vessels.

[22] Gueppe, a flush-deck ship of 300 tons and carrying 18 guns, was initially in the harbour at Vigo but, when the British force entered the bay on 29 August, was moved to near the Narrows of Redondela where she anchored below a shore battery.