She first appeared under British ownership in 1781 as a West Indiaman.

In 1787 new owners renamed her Harpooner and she was briefly a northern whaler in the Davis Strait.

She entered Lloyd's Register (LR) in 1781 as Salisbury.

The entry referred to her being named Rebecca in 1781, having been built in 1761, and repaired in 1782, 1785, and 1787.

[5] Harpooner was lost in 1789 on the coast near Cherbourg while coming from St Ubes.