Isabella was launched in France in 1791 as the East Indiaman St Jean de Lone.

Captain Marin Voisin was returning from Pondicherry, Yanaon, and Madras to Ostend or L'Orient in May 1793 with [Indian] bale goods, black pepper, sugar and dyewoods when on the 10th she encountered a British privateer from Liverpool.

The privateer fired on St.Jean de Lone, alerting her to the fact that war with Britain had broken out.

The cutter Surprize, which was armed with 10 guns, was the first to encounter St.Jean de Lone and the two maintained a running engagement for two and a half hours before the lugger Resolution arrived on the scene.

Surprize brought St. Jean de Lone into Plymouth, while Resolution returned to Guernsey to refit.

[3] 2nd EIC voyage (1796–1798): Captain Wilkinson sailed from Portsmouth on 18 October 1793, bound for Madras, Bombay, and Bengal.

She reached St Helena on 21 March and Cork on 25 June, and arrived at the Downs on 8 July.