She made five voyages for the British East India Company (EIC), and twice participated as a transport for military expeditions.

[4] There the government chartered Sulivan to shuttle troops up and down the coast in connection with the siege of Mangalore.

Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 5 November, reached St Helena on 24 March 1785, and arrived at The Downs on 11 June.

Sulivan reached Madeira on 17 January 1786 and the Cape of Good Hope on 8 April, and arrived at Madras on 6 June.

Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 14 February 1787, reached St Helena on 26 May, and arrived at The Downs on 28 July.

Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 19 December, reached St Helena on 1 March 1790, and arrived at The Downs on 18 May.

Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 26 February, reached St Helena on 14 June, and arrived at The Downs on 21 August.

Captain Sampson Hall was ready to sail when the British government held Sulivan at Portsmouth, together with 38 other Indiamen in anticipation of using them as transports for an attack on Île de France (Mauritius).

Homeward bound, she crossed the Second Bar on 30 December, reached St Helena on 13 April, and arrived at The Downs on 23 July.

[4] The Admiralty chartered Sulivan as a troopship for Admiral Hugh Cloberry Christian's expedition to the West Indies.

She sailed for the West Indies on 9 December, but bad weather delayed the start of the expedition and the vessels had to put back to England.

[11] After numerous false starts aborted by weather issues, the fleet sailed on 26 April to invade St Lucia, with troops under Lieutenant-General Sir Ralph Abercromby.

Captain Hall acquired a letter of marque on 10 March 1797,[5] and sailed from Portsmouth on 6 April, bound for Bombay.

There she found out that on the 27th or the 28th, the French privateer Bellone had come into A Coruña for repairs after having unsuccessfully attacked an American ship.

[3] Two of Washington's 6-pounder guns were unavailable (one was stowed and one was foul), and in an initial exchange of broadsides, recoil dismounted five or six carronades; these the crew were able to remount during a lull in the engagement.

There exists an invoice from Ketland & Walker dated 15 July 1800, for 1,553 locks shipped to Philadelphia on Washington, James Williamson, master.