1803 Cameleon joined Nelson off Toulon, who then sent her to Barcelona. Her ostensible mission was to buy bullocks for the fleet; actually Nelson tasked Staines with obtaining information on Spanish intentions vis-à-vis Britain. She returned to the Toulon blockade on 2 August. There she encountered on 3 August; a French squadron of four frigates sortied that night and on the next day captured Redbridge and a transport that she was convoying. Cameleon then returned to her old area of operation. There she captured nine merchantmen and also a French packet sailing from Corsica to Toulon. One of the merchant vessels was a polacre that Cameleon cut out from under the guns of batteries near Genoa in an action that cost her one man killed and seven wounded; enemy casualties amounted to four men killed and seven wounded. Between 16 August 1803 and 25 March 1804, Cameleon captured St. Spiridion, St. Antonio di Padua, Madonna di Montinero, and Jeune Adelaide. One 29 August, Cameleons boats attempted to cut out five vessels sheltering under the protection of batteries at Rimasol. Cameleon had ten men wounded; she does not seem to have succeeded in capturing anything. On another occasion, Cameleons boats, with those of , succeeded in bringing out a settee from Alassio. This time too there were British casualties. On 16 November Cameleon was part of Nelson's squadron off Corsica. Cameleon was lying nearly becalmed off Cap Corse, when Staines sighted an armed schooner escorting a transport. He deployed the boats, which succeeded in capturing the schooner, the French naval vessel Renard, of 12 guns. went in chase of the transport, a brig, and captured her. French records report that Renard, under the command of lieutenant de vaisseau Jacques Constantin, was escorting a transport carrying troops from Calvi. The records attribute the capture to Cameleon and , give a date of 25 November for the capture, and report that Renard surrendered after having been fired on over a period of hours by a ship and Cameleon. In his dispatches, Nelson simply attributed the capture to his squadron, though Victorys log in the Admiralty records Cameleon and Stately as the captors. Nelson described Renard as being armed with twelve 4-pounder guns and six swivel guns, and carrying a crew of 80 men. The transport brig was Titus, and she was taking 96 troops to Toulon. Stately then escorted both prizes to Malta.