She served in the Caribbean, taking part in several actions, including a small debacle in 1808, and the capture of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1809.

[3] On 3 July, Subtle was cruising with the ship-sloop Wanderer and the schooner Ballahoo between the islands of Anguilla and Saint Martin, the small squadron attempted an attack on St. Martin with a view to reducing the number of havens available to French privateers, but the opposition proved stronger than intelligence had led the British to expect.

A landing party of 38 seamen and marines from all three vessels, under Lieutenant Spearing of Subtle, succeeded in capturing a lower battery with few losses and spiking six guns.

Crofton reported that the French buried the English dead with full military honors with both the fort and the British firing salutes.

[7] However, even earlier duplicates of the dispatches and much besides were found concealed aboard the cartel Phoenix, which had sailed from Cayenne and had stopped in Barbados.

[3] In February 1809, Subtle participated in the combined naval and military assault and capture of the French-held island of Martinique.

[3] This qualified those of her crew still alive in 1847 for the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with clasp "Martinique".

[10] She then participated in the capture of Guadeloupe (January – February 1810), which earned for her crew the clasp "Guadaloupe" to the NGSM, as well as further prize money, which she shared with 49 other vessels.

[11][a] On 1 December 1812, Captain Miller of the American privateer schooner Jack's Favorite, was re-provisioning at Saint Barts when Subtle arrived.