She was built in Nantes in 1803 on plans by Pierre Forfait and launched on 1 March 1805. She was put into service in September. She departed from Nantes in June 1805 for Fort-de-France to carry new instructions to Admiral Villeneuve, but failed to reach him as the fleet was already heading for Europe. On 19 July she was the lead vessel of a squadron of four vessels that captured the Blanche. The other three were the 22-gun corvette Départment des Landes, the 18-gun Torche, and the 16-gun brig-corvette Faune.