Hotham was in command of "Blanche" on 5 February 1797 when she and , Captain Thomas Fremantle, captured the ship "Fortune" of Philadelphia. On 20 November 1797 he captured the French privateer brig "Le Coureur", of 14 guns and 90 men, after a three-hour chase. On 27 December 1797, about west of Porto, he captured the "Bayonnois", a French privateer brig of six guns and 40 men, after a 16-hour chase. The brig had sailed from Bayonne 31 days previously and had made no captures.