Scorpion was launched in the spring of 1813 at Presque Isle (now Erie, Pennsylvania), probably by Noah Brown of New York, for service on the upper Great Lakes during the War of 1812.

At the close of the action, she and Trippe pursued and captured the fleeing British schooners Chippeway and Little Belt.

After Perry's victory, Scorpion assisted General William Henry Harrison's forces operating in the Thames River area, by transporting troops as well as stores and ammunition captured from the enemy.

On 6 September 1814, while on blockade duty on Lake Huron, Scorpion, under command of Daniel Turner, was surprised and captured by the former American schooner, Tigress, which also had been taken by the British a few days earlier.

Scorpion was subsequently taken into the Royal Navy as the four-gun schooner Confiance, which along with Tigress, according to local legend, was later sunk in Georgian Bay, Lake Huron, off Penetanguishene, Ontario.