Antigua with a convoy he noticed a schooner approaching. He hoisted American colours and dressed a midshipman as a woman. The schooner showed French colours and approached. Unfortunately, the French vessel was too low for Herons guns to bear and rolled too much for her crew to secure grapnels. All that the British could do was raise the British ensign and discharge a volley of musketry before the French vessel escaped. later captured the schooner, which turned out to be Matilde, of 16 guns. Thereafter, Heron escorted convoys to Halifax, Newfoundland and Bermuda until December 1806 when Edgecombe, whose health had been impaired, left. Heron then remained in ordinary until 1810 when the Admiralty had her converted into a bomb vessel and renamed her Volcano. As Volcano Commander David Price assumed command of Volcano on 6 December 1813. In the summer of 1814 he sailed her to North America to join Sir Alexander Cochrane's fleet off the entrance to Baltimore harbor where she joined in the 25 hour bombardment of Fort McHenry starting the morning of 13 September 2014. Along with her were four other bomb vessels and a Congreve rocket vessel, . The entire attack squadron consisted of 16 vessels, and launched over 1,500 bombs during the attack, but succeeded in killing only four Americans and wounding 24 before giving up the attack. Later, Volcano served in the Potomac under Rear Admiral Pulteney Malcolm. On 31 October 1814, while escorting a merchantman to Jamaica, Volcano nearly succeeded in capturing the 7-gun American privateer schooner Saucy Jack. The two vessels exchange fire before the American took advantage of her greater speed and escaped. The British lost three men killed; the Americans lost seven killed and 14 wounded. At the end of 1814, Volcano took part in the Gulf Campaign. First, her crew participated as boarding parties in the Battle of Lake Borgne. Volcano was sent up the Mississippi, with another bomb vessel, , and (18), (12), and (10) to bombard Fort St Philip. It took the British vessels from 30 December to 9 January to work the forty miles up the Mississippi to the fort, by warping and hard towing to the Plaquesmines Bend, just below the fort. On 9 January 1815 Volcano dropped anchor on the south shore of the Mississippi, in a position out of the range of the fort's cannon, her mortar within range of the fort.