under Captain John Stone, who sailed her to Nova Scotia on 17 October, after which she was paid off in 1785. Hermione may have then been recommissioned under Captain William H. Ricketts during the Spanish Armament of 1790, though this is uncertain. She did, however, undergo a repair between October 1790 and June 1792, followed by a period spent refitting at Chatham Dockyard until January 1793. She was recommissioned in December 1792 under Captain John Hills, under whom she sailed to Jamaica on 10 March 1793. Hermione served in the West Indies during the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars. On 4 June 1794, under Hills, the ship participated in the British attack on Port-au-Prince, where she led a small squadron that accompanied troop transports. Hermione had five men killed and six wounded in the attack. The British captured the port and its defences, and in doing so captured a large number of merchant vessels. Hermione was also among the vessels that shared in the capture on 17 July of the Lady Walterstasse. Hills died from yellow fever at Port Royal in September 1794. Captain Philip Wilkinson replaced Hills and was himself replaced in February 1797 — the year of the Spithead and Nore mutinies — by Captain Hugh Pigot. Pigot was a cruel officer who meted out severe and arbitrary punishments to his crew. During a nine-month period, as captain of his previous command he ordered at least 85 floggings, the equivalent of half the crew; two men died from their injuries. Hermione was sent to patrol the Mona Passage between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Under Pigot, she destroyed three privateers at Puerto Rico on 22 March 1797. On 20 April Hermione was the lead ship in a squadron formed of the 32-gun frigates and , the 14-gun brig , and the cutter HMS Penelope. The squadron cut out nine ships at the Battle of Jean-Rabel without suffering any casualties. On 6 September 1797 she was in company with and HMS Renommee when Diligence captured a Spanish 6-gun packet ship with troops on board. Mutiny The disrating of Midshipman David Casey, an experienced junior officer who had distinguished himself to Captain Pigot during the previous months, was one of the primary triggers to the mutiny. About a week before the mutiny, Casey was at his station on the main top, and Pigot noticed that a gasket,