In February 1797 Pellew was appointed to but, having been put ashore when her crew mutinied at the Nore, and under pressure from his commander-in-chief, he resigned the command, being moved in July to . He commanded her first in the Channel, until November 1798, and then on the Halifax and Jamaica stations. In 1800, Pellew suffered a setback when a boat attack to seize some Spanish vessels from an anchorage off Cuba was driven off with significant casualties and only the capture of a small galley. Later "Cleopatra" ran aground off Abaco, one of the Bahamas. She was aground for three days and only floated off after her guns and some ballast had been thrown overboard.