Robert was a 16-gun French privateer corvette launched in 1793 at Nantes. The British captured her in 1793 and named her HMS Espion. The French recaptured her in 1794 and took her into service as Espion. The British recaptured her in 1795, but there being another Espion in service by then, the British renamed their capture HMS Spy. She served under that name until the Navy sold her in 1801. Spy then became a slave ship in the triangular trade in enslaved people, a merchantman to South America, and privateer again. The French captured her in mid-1805 and sent her into Guadeloupe.
Robert
Perrotin & Son commissioned Robert in Nantes in February 1793; on 15 February Captain François-Marie Pied acquired the 8th letter of marque for the war with England issued at Nantes.
She recaptured two French vessels while on her first cruise. One was the East Indiaman Trajan, Captain Joseph Boudel, which was coming from Pondicherry. had captured her. Robert sent her into Bordeaux. The other vessel was Titus, which an English privateer had captured. Robert sent her too into Bordeaux, where her cargo was sold.
Captain Jacques Moreau replaced Boudel. Robert sailed from Bordeaux on 3 June. It was on this cruise that the British captured her.
The frigate , Captain John Manley, captured Robert on 13 June 1793 in the Bay of Biscay after a chase of 28 hours. One report gave Robert 22 guns and a complement of 200 men, but all other reports trimmed this to 16 carriage and eight swivel guns, and 170 men. Robert had been out three days from Bordeaux, had captured nothing.
HMS Espion
The Royal Navy commissioned HMS Espion in March 1794 under the command of Commander William Hugh Kittoe, for the Channel. On 22 July 1794 Tamise and two other French frigates captured Espion south of the Isles of Scilly. Kittoe was so outnumbered and outgunned that he struck without resistance. The French Navy took her into service as the corvette Espion.
Espion
On 23 August 1794, , Captain Sir John Borlase Warren, and , Captain Sir Edward Pellew, chased two French corvettes, Alerte and Espion into Audierne Bay. The two corvettes anchored off the Gamelle Rocks, but when they saw that the British intended to capture them, their captains got under weigh and ran their vessels aground below the guns of three shore batteries. The corvettes continued to exchange fire with the two British frigates until early evening, when the corvettes' masts fell. At that point many of the French crewmen abandoned their vessels and went ashore. Warren sent in the boats from both Flora and Arethusa, all under Pellew's command, with orders to set fire or otherwise destroy the two corvettes. Pellew went in and took possession of both, but determined that he could not extract the wounded. Pellew therefore left the vessels, which he determined were bilged and scuttled, with rocks having pierced their bottoms, and left with 52 prisoners. Pellew estimated that Alerte had suffered 20 to 30 men killed and wounded, and that Espion had lost more.
Alerte was a total loss, but the French Navy was able to refloat Espion, which had been under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Magendie. She then spent time in the Brest roadstead before cruising in the Atlantic and returning to Brest.
On 4 March 1795, the British frigate captured Espion about 13 leagues off Ushant. Espion was armed with eighteen 6-pounder guns and had a crew of 140 men. She was five days out of Brest on a cruise. Lively was under the command of Captain George Burlton, acting in the absence of Captain Viscount Lord Garlies, who was sick on shore, commanded Lively.
Nine days later, Lively captured the French corvette Tourterelle, and two vessels that Tourterelle had been escorting, which had been prizes to Espion.
HMS Spy
As the Royal Navy by this time had another HMS Espion, the Navy took Espion into service on 20 May 1795 and renamed her Spy. She then was at Portsmouth fitting out until November. She was recommissioned under J. Walton. In January 1796 Commander James Young assumed command for The Downs station. A year later Commander William Grosvenor replaced Young, and remained in command until December 1799. In August 1797 Spy recaptured four vessels. She appears to have spent her time escorting convoys in the Channel. For instance, on 5 March 1799 Spy passed Plymouth, escorting a convoy of coasters westward.
Commander Charles Hay replaced Grosvenor. On 14 August 1800, Spy left Plymouth with the London trader George and Francis, Hoskins, master, under convoy for London.