Edwards took command temporarily. In July–August 1802, Sirius was under the command of Captain King, who further had command of a small squadron on anti-smuggling duties. The other vessels in the squadron were , , , and . In August 1802, Captain William Prowse took command of Sirius. Napoleonic Wars After the resumption of hostilities with France, Sirius took part in the blockade of Brest. On 18 May 1803, Sirius and captured Mere de Familie. Ten days later Sirius captured the French ship Achille and then on 8 June Trois Freres. The capture of Aigle on 30 May resulted in a preliminary allotment to Siriuss crew of £6200 in prize money. Two days earlier Sirius had captured Zephyr. Sirius shared with Nemesis the proceeds of the capture of Trois Freres and Aigle. Sirius then was among the vessels sharing in the salvage money from the recapture of Lord Nelson on 27 August. Similarly, Sirius shared in the salvage money for , recaptured on 28 October. On 15 February 1805, Sirius recaptured Spring. On 22 July Sirius participated in Calder's Action (Battle of Cape Finisterre (1805)). She shared in the prize money for the Spanish ships St. Raphael and Firme, and possibly other vessels as well. Trafalgar On 21 October, Sirius joined the British fleet under Vice Admiral Lord Nelson at Trafalgar. Entering battle to the north of the weather column, her station placed her only a few cable lengths from HMS Victory. Parliament voted a grant of £300,000 to be distributed in September 1806 among the participants of the battle. Other distributions of prize money followed. In 1847 the Admiralty would issue surviving claimants from the battle the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Trafalgar". On 25 November, Sirius, and Swiftsure captured Nemesis. Sirius vs. Bergère In January 1806, Sirius and the 64-gun were escorting a convoy from Gibraltar when they encountered a French squadron under Admiral Willaumez. The French succeeded in capturing two of the merchant vessels and four of the French fleet unsuccessfully chased Sirius for two hours, but forcing her to separate from the convoy. From then until 1808 Sirius served in the Mediterranean. On 17 April 1806 at 2pm Sirius was five or six leagues off Civitavecchia when Prowse received intelligence that a French force had sailed that morning for Naples. He immediately set out and succeeded in catching up with them just after sunset two