In wartime each cutter operated under a letter of marque, which authorized the master to engage in offensive actions against the enemy, not just defensive.
[2] In 1788, the captain of the Revenue cutter Swallow boarded two Swedish ships, Aurora and Maria, then in dock in Kingston-on-Hull and seized them.
[4] On 23 June 1791, The Times reported that the Revenue cutter Swallow had brought into Penzance a seizure of tea, tobacco, and 700 gallons of spirits.
[5] The table below shows letters of marque issued to a Swallow where there is reason to suppose that she was a revenue cutter.
That same day, the Revenue cutter Swallow, which was in company with Alarm, captured the privateer Enfant de la Patrie.
As they came alongside, the smugglers fired small arms and a carriage gun loaded with lead at the Custom's men, wounding one mortally.
The Commissioners of His Majesty's Customs offered a reward of £300 for information leading to the delivery and apprehension of the master of the smuggling cutter, and the person who fired the shot.
[10] At some point the Revenue cutters Stag and Swallow captured the Einigheit, of Lubeck for which they were awarded prize money.
[11] The Times reported that the Revenue cutter Swallow, Captain Smith, had captured a smuggling ship off the Sussex coast.
[13] HM Revenue Cutter Swallow, Mr. Amos, master, captured the French privateer Petit Diable, of six tons (bm), off Farleigh on 27 August 1796.
[16] On 22 December 1796, the Revenue cutter Swallow captured the French lugger privateer Diable Volant off Havre.
[17][b] The cutter Swallow, Thomas Amos, master, of 153 tons (bm), was listed in June 1797 as cruising as the Customs Board would direct.
On 28 August 1799, she was with the British fleet that captured the Dutch hulks Drotchterland and Brooderschap, and the ships Helder, Venus, Minerva, and Hector, in the New Diep, in Holland.
[22] On 26 May 1800, the revenue cutters Swallow, Greyhound, Swan, Rose, Falcon, and Dolphin sailed from Portsmouth on a secret mission.
[28] On 19 February 1808, the gun-brig HMS Hardy was about five leagues off Beachy Head when she observed a lugger close to the shore.
Hardy shared the prize money with HMS Port Mahon, and the revenue cutters Falcon, Hawke, and Swallow.
[34] On 27 February 1821, Stanley captured the smuggling cutter Idas, of 177 tons (bm), after a long chase and a running fight.
[35] In 1833, the revenue cutter Swallow, Lieutenant (Daniel M'Neale) Beatty, commander, left the Milford station.