Triton was launched in 1787 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made three full voyages for the EIC before the French privateer Robert Surcouf captured her in 1796 while she was on her fourth voyage. She returned to British ownership shortly thereafter and the EIC chartered her for three more voyages to Britain. She was based at Calcutta and was last listed in 1809.

Robert Surcouf was a French privateer, businessman and slave trader who operated in the Indian Ocean from 1789 to 1808 during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Capturing over 40 prizes, he later amassed a large fortune from a variety of commercial activities, such as ship-owning, privateering, slave trading and owning land.