HMS Leopard saw service during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and was active in Europe, East Indies and Egypt. In 1807, a group of British sailors - some of American birth - deserted and joined the crew of USS Chesapeake. Captain Humphreys, commanding Leopard, requested permission to search for the deserters. Humphreys took back four deserters and hanged the British-born ones. This incident was one of several episodes that increased the tension between the British Empire and the United States, finally exploding in the War of 1812.