The British took "Boston" into service as a frigate. In June 1781 Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot sent "Charlestown" and several other vessels to attempt to block some French reinforcements from entering Boston. On 7 July, the squadron that Arbuthnot sent to Boston recaptured the British sloop-of-war , which the American frigate had captured on 27 May. "Charlestown", under Captain Henry Francis Evans, and , brought "Atalanta" into Halifax. Then "Charlestown" sent in two American privateers that she had taken, "Flying Fish" and "Yankee Hero".