The Capricieuse was a 36-gun frigate of the French Navy, lead ship of her class She was launched in Lorient on 20 November 1786 and commissioned under captain de Ferrières the next year. In 1788, she accidentally ran aground and was refloated the next year. In February 1791, she took a station in Domingo, from which she returned in October 1792, ferrying Blanchelande to be tried in France. In September 1793, she was renamed Charente and manned by the crew of Néréide. She took part in the Croisière du Grand Hiver and in the Expédition d'Irlande, where she shadowed Trajan.