Captain
William Henry Shirreff commissioned
Barrosa on 25 October 1812. He sailed her for North America on 31 January 1813. She was serving as an escort to a convoy for the West Indies and the Brazils.
War of 1812 On 22 May 1813,
Barrosa captured the American schooner
William and Thomas, of 25 tons (bm).
Barrosa kept her prize as a
ship's tender.
Barrosa was among the British naval vessels that shared in the capture of a number of merchant vessels in mid-January 1813: On 25 July 1813 the whale-ship , a prize to the , with a full cargo of
spermaceti oil worth about 100,000 dollars, and armed with 16 guns and with a crew of 41 men, departed Valparaiso for the US.
Barrosa captured
Georgiana in the West Indies on 28 November, brought her into Bermuda prior to 7 December 1813.
Georgiana was carrying close to 3000 barrels as she was carrying the combined cargoes of three captured English whalers as well as its own cargo.
Georgiana was also carrying Captain William Stavers, who had been captain of at the time of her capture.
Seringapatam had been preying on American ships but Stavers did not have a
letter of marque authorizing him to engage in
privateering. Consequently, the Americans were sending Stavers to the United States to stand trial for piracy. Vice Admiral Cochrane tasked
Barrosa to escort the convoy returning to Portsmouth. On 11 November
Barrosa arrived at Halifax as escort to a convoy from Bermuda. She then sailed on to Portsmouth, where she arrived on 27 January 1814. She sailed from Portsmouth on 13 April, escorting a convoy to the West Indies. Shirreff was invalided home in July 1814. In August 1814 Captain John Maxwell replaced Shirreff. Maxwell's replacement, in about a month, was Captain William McCulloch, of . On 29 September McCullough reported the capture of the American letter of marque schooner
Engineer, of eight guns and 35 men, and
Friends, a schooner of 115 tons and 8 men bound from St. Augustine's to St. Bartholomew's. On 1 October
Barrosa arrived at Barbados with a letter of marque schooner that was carrying 900 barrels of flour and that
Barrosa had recently captured. On 13 November
Barrosa captured the schooner
Clio, of six men and 96 tons (bm). The next day
Barrosa captured the 1-gun schooner
High Flyer, of 17 men and 135 tons (bm).
Barrosa returned to Portsmouth on 11 September 1815 from the West Indies. She then went into
ordinary.
Post-war Barrosa was fitted as a slop ship between August and September 1823. She then became a receiving ship and ordnance depot until 1833. ==Fate==