The Admiralty had Hawke fitted out between April 1794 and April 1795 at Woolwich, commissioning her in April 1794 under Lieutenant John Sewell [REF].
Smith assigned all his gunvessels to the defence of the Îles Saint-Marcouf, which are some three and a half miles from the French coast and about nine miles south-east of Cape La Hogue, and which consist of two islands, West and East.