The Royal Navy commissioned her in 1803 as HMS Pandour; she then sailed to the Leeward Islands, where she participated in the capture of Surinam.

The British captured Hector, and a number of other vessels, at the Nieuwe Diep during the Anglo-Russian invasion of Holland.

The Admiralty transferred her to the Transport Board on 26 May 1801, which had her fitted en flute at Woolwich between May and July to serve as a troopship.

On 24 April Commodore Samuel Hood's squadron captured the Dutch colony at Surinam River.

The squadron consisted of Hood's flagship Centaur, Emerald, Pandour, Serapis, Unique, Alligator, Hippomenes, and Drake, and was transporting 2000 troops under Brigadier-General Sir Charles Green.

[1] At some point the Admiralty regained control and offered her for sale at Portsmouth on 13 May 1814, though the vessel was lying at Scilly "with her masts and yards only".