Havannahs first captain was
George Cadogan, who commissioned her into the
Channel Fleet.
Havannah was rapidly involved in operations against French coastal shipping off the
Channel Islands. On 6 September 1811, the boats of
Havannah, under the command of her
first lieutenant, William Hamley, landed a party that spiked the three 12-pounder guns of a battery on the south-west side of the
Penmarks. They then brought out several coasting vessels that had taken refuge under the guns, all without taking any losses. • Schooner
Aimable Fanny, laden with wine and brandy, and several
chasse marees: •
St. Jean, laden with salt; •
Petit Jean Baptiste, laden with wine and brandy; •
Buonaparte, laden with wine and brandy; •
Voltigeur, laden with wine and brandy; and • lastly, one of unknown name, laden with wine and brandy, dismantled and set on fire but later extinguished. On 25 December,
Havannah sailed for the Mediterranean. In 1812, Cadogan took
Havannah to join the squadron operating in the
Adriatic from the island of
Lissa. On 24 April 1812, , , and
Havannah landed Lieutenant-colonel George Duncan Robertson, his staff, and a garrison at Port St. George on
Lissa. The British had defeated a French naval force on 13 March, at the
Battle of Lissa and wanted to establish a base there with Robertson as its first Governor. In early 1813,
Havannah was detached to the Northern Italian coast where she conducted a five-month campaign against the shipping and shore facilities of
Vasto and its environs. On 6 January 1813,
Havannahs boats cut out Gunboat No. 8, armed with one long 24-pounder gun. She had a crew of 35 men under the command of M. Joseph Floreus,
enseigne de vaisseau. Despite meeting a superior force and coming under small arms fire from the shore, the boats, under Lieutenant Hamley, captured the gunboat and three merchant vessels, their original target, as well. The British had one man killed and two men wounded in the operation. In May 1821, prize money for the gunboat, the three merchant vessels
St Antonio No. 1,
St Antonio No. 2 and
St Antonio No. 3 was awarded, as well as prize money for two other vessels taken that day,
Madona del Rosario and the
settee Euphemia. On 14 January,
Havannah and captured two small
trabaccolos. In May 1821 prize money for ten trabaccolos, one parenza, five feluccas, and their cargoes, captured between 22 March and 5 May, was paid. In November 1813,
Havannah was attached to
Thomas Fremantle's squadron that blockaded and besieged
Trieste. She was then detached to take the port of
Zara with the assistance of (or
Weazle). Cadogan used the ships' guns to establish batteries armed with two 32-pounder carronades, eight 18-pounder guns, and seven long 12-pounder guns. He then attacked the city and captured it with the aid of some Austrian troops. In all, they captured 110 guns and 18 howitzers, 350 men, 100 dismounted guns, and 12 gunboats. Cadogan was later instructed to hand over all prizes and spoils of war to the Austrians. (This order cost the crews of
Havannah and
Weazle an estimated £300,000 in prize money.) The Emperor of Austria, however, awarded Lieutenant Hamley the Imperial Austrian
Order of Leopold for his services at Zara. On 9 December,
Havannah and
Weazel destroyed 17 gunboats. In 1814,
Havannah came under the command of Captain James Black (acting. On 6 February 1814,
Apollo and
Havannah were anchored outside Brindisi while the French frigate
Uranie was inside the port, on fire. had chased her into the port some weeks earlier while awaiting the officials of the port, which belonged to the Kingdom of Naples, to respond to the presence of the French vessel. When
Apollo appeared on the scene and made signs of being about to enter the port,
Uranies captain removed the powder from his ship and set her on fire. On 15 April 1814, days before the end of the war,
Havannah, under the command of (temporary) Captain Edward Sibly, captured the French privateer schooner
Grande Isabelle off
Corfu, together with the schooner's prize. The schooner carried four guns and 64 men, and had sailed from Corfu on 9 April, before capturing a vessel sailing from
Trieste to
Messina. Captain Gawen Hamilton recommissioned
Havannah in April 1814, at Portsmouth. On 19 July 1815,
Havannah was in company with , , , and
Ferret when they captured the French vessels
Fortune,
Papillon,
Marie Graty,
Marie Victorine,
Cannoniere, and
Printemis. One was a naval brig of 12 guns and one a cutter of ten guns; two were schooners and three were
chasse marees.
Havannah also shared in the prize money for the ship
Abeona and the schooners
Franklin and
Saucy Jack, which other ships had captured between 21 October and 6 November, in the Chesapeake. Similarly
Havannah shared in the prize money for the schooner
Mary and the goods from the transports
Lloyd and
Abeona, captured in the Chesapeake between 29 November and 19 December. ==Peacetime service==