[1] The ship was built for the American Revolutionary War and participated in commerce raiding until destroyed in the Penobscot expedition.

The armed ship Glasgow, the brig Saint John, and the schooner Three Brothers were captured during an August 1776 cruise between Cape Sable and Nantucket.

Tyrannicide was re-rigged from schooner to brigantine prior to embarking on a cruise to the West Indies on 29 October 1776.

Tyrannicide captured the 160-ton brig Trepassy on 30 April, but became separated from Massachusetts while being chased by a superior British squadron on 17 May.

Tyrannicide escaped to Bilbao, Spain after throwing guns and stores overboard to lighten the ship, and returned to Boston on 30 August 1777.

With the other ships of the expedition, she was burned at Bangor, Maine, on 14 August 1779 after retreating up the Penobscot River to avoid capture by a superior British fleet.