The British commissioned
Confiance into the Royal Navy in June as an 18-gun sloop under the newly promoted Commander James Yeo, and for the Channel. (
Confiance kept her status as a sloop until 1807, when the Admiralty re-rated her as a
sixth rate. She remained at Plymouth from 19 June to 14 March 1806 undergoing fitting out.
Confiance shared with , , and in the proceeds from the recapture on 11 January 1807 of the schooner
Monarch. On 18 August, as
Confiance was sailing to
Porto, Yeo received information that the
Reitrada, a small Spanish privateer
lugger that had been active along the coast of Portugal, was anchored at La Guardia. Yeo sent in a cutting out party in
Confiances boats. They captured the lugger, which was armed with one 12 and two 4-pounder guns, and had a crew of 30 men. The Spaniards had one man killed, several wounded, and the rest of the crew jumped overboard. The privateer had sheltered under the guns of two forts, which fired on the boats as they came in. One fort was armed with four 24-pounder guns and the other with six 18-pounder guns; there were also 150 troops. Despite the Spaniards' fire, the British sustained no casualties.
Confiance sailed to Portugal on 16 January 1808. The French had captured Lisbon and the Royal Navy was maintaining a blockade in the
Tagus where the onset of the
Anglo-Russian War had trapped a squadron of Russian ships under the command of Vice-Admiral
Dmitry Senyavin.
Confiance was off the Tagus when on 13 February she sent her
cutter and
jolly boat, with 15 men under the command of Master's Mate R. Trist, to row
picket because of rumours that Senyavin was about to leave. Trist observed a French gun-vessel anchored under the guns of Fort San Pedro, between Fort Belem and Fort Julian. He immediately attacked, capturing Gunboat #1, which was armed with one 24-pounder gun and two 6-pounder carronades. She had 100 stands of arms aboard, and a crew of 50 men under the command of
ensign de vaisseau Gandolphe. The British suffered no casualties; the French had three men killed and nine wounded. Trist, who had passed his exams for Lieutenant a year earlier, received promotion to that rank for his feat. In 1847 the Admiralty issued the Naval General Service Medal (NGSM) with clasp "13 Feb. Boat Service 1808" to all surviving claimants from the action.
Confiance next sailed to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. On 14 January 1809
Confiance took part in the capture of
Cayenne,
French Guiana. Yeo received permission from the commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's Brazil station, Admiral
Sir Sidney Smith to mount an operation against the French. Yeo took
Confiance, two armed Portuguese brigs, an unarmed Portuguese brig, a Portuguese cutter, and 4-500 Portuguese soldiers, and sailed to
Oyapoc, in French Guiana, which they captured on 8 December 1808. A week later they captured
Appruagoc (or Appruague). Emboldened by the ease of their victories, Yeo and the Portuguese commander then decided to attack
Cayenne. They captured three forts and defeated the French forces under the command of
Victor Hugues, the French governor. British casualties were only one man killed and 23 men wounded. On 13 January 1809, while Yeo was on shore with three-quarters of
Confiances crew, seamen and marines, the approached Cayenne. She was carrying flour and was under orders to avoid combat, but the British did not know that. Midshipman G. Yeo, Yeo's younger brother, another midshipman, the remaining 25 men of the crew, and 20 local Negroes that the two midshipmen induced to join them, set sail towards
Topaze.
Topaze, judging from the sloop's boldness that she had company that would be forthcoming, turned away. A few days later captured
Topaze.
King George knighted James Yeo in 1810 for his victory. In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Confiance 14 Jany. 1809" to all surviving claimants from the operation. ==Fate==