After being blockaded in the Providence River for more than a year, the new frigate, under command of Captain Abraham Whipple, ran the British blockade on the night of 30 April 1778, returning the heavy fire of the British frigate HMS Lark and damaging that vessel, killing 3 of her crew and wounding 17, firing on frigate HMS Juno and damaging a tender that was sent to dock in Newport, Rhode Island, where it sank.

[1] She sailed directly for France, arriving at Paimboeuf 30 May to procure guns and supplies for Continental Navy vessels under construction.

In the early morning of mid-July, the squadron was in a dense fog off the banks of Newfoundland and fell in with a Jamaican fleet of some 150 sails.

The Squadron returned to Boston and 23 November sailed from Nantasket Roads, first cruising eastward of Bermuda, arriving at Charleston, South Carolina 23 December to defend that city.

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.