The frigate went on to play a crucial role at the action of 8 March 1795 and came under heavy fire at the Battle of the Hyères Islands trying to save a damaged French ship of the line.

A few months after the entry of Great Britain into the French Revolutionary Wars in February 1793, a large Royal Navy fleet was sent to operate in the Mediterranean.

[2] The British fleet, under Lord Hood, arrived off Toulon in August 1793 to find that the port was in upheaval, conflict between Girondists and Jacobins raging against the backdrop of the Reign of Terror.

Hood interceded in the dispute, persuading the Girondist faction to declare for the exiled French monarchy and invite the British to take control of the city and fleet.

[5] Those French ships in condition to sail were removed from the harbour and distributed among the allies who had participated in the siege; the British took six frigates and gave one, Alceste, to the Kingdom of Sardinia.

[8] In Toulon, command of the French fleet had been granted to Contre-amiral Pierre Martin, who was assembling a 15-ship convoy to supply Corsica and raise the siege of Bastia.

[10] Boudeuse was so damaged that Martin sent the ship back to Toulon for repairs, although Alceste was mostly intact and was sent to Nice under a prize crew with the captured 14-gun merchant brig Expedition, taken the same day by the frigate Sérieuse while sailing from Bastia to Livorno.

[12] Hood then withdrew with part of his fleet to the ongoing Siege of Calvi, leaving a force under Vice-Admiral William Hotham to blockade the French.

[16] Alceste led the attack and although badly damaged, the frigate was able to kill the British captain and delay Berwick until heavier support could arrive.

[15] Later in the year Alceste was with the fleet which fought at the Battle of the Hyères Islands, the frigate attempting unsuccessfully to bring support to the crippled French ship Alcide while under heavy fire.