Sprightly shared with the frigate Amphitrite, sloop Fairy, and the cutters Griffin, Flying Fish, and Wells, in the capture on 24 May 1779 of the French privateers Dunkerque and Prince de Robcq, which had "eight ransomers" aboard. In October 1794 Lieutenant Robert Jump assumed command of Sprightly. In January 1799 he sailed her for Jamaica. Later that year Sprightly and the brigSpitfire captured the brig Gute Hoffnung.