After her launch, Bellona was completed and equipped with 40 guns. The crew consisted of 342 men. Her service included convoys to Pomerania, the North Sea and around the Baltic Sea. In 1791, she undertook a long voyage to Morocco.

In 1809, Bellona was part of the squadron that brought a Swedish landing force to Västerbotten, where a Russian invasion army operated. After the battles of Sävar and Ratan, the fleet sailed south again.

On 12 September, Bellona was at the same latitude as Örskär’s lighthouse on Gräsö. Major Lagerbjelke, who commanded Bellona, handed over command to the pilot, archipelago officer Lindqvist. It wasn’t long before the ship ran aground at a good speed. Bellona was firmly stuck and couldn’t come loose. At 6 p.m., it was said that the water in her cavity was rising alarmingly fast.

Lagerbjelke realised that the frigate was lost. The risk that the ship would capsize was imminent. First, the sick disembarked the frigate, and then sails, ropes and supplies were transferred to other ships.

At two in the morning, the water reached high up in the supply storehouse, washing over half the bottom of the lower deck, while the list increased. So, Lagerbjelke gave the order to stop pumping and the officers and the last crew disembarked.

The wreckage remains are scattered across a large area. The more intact part of the wreck, lying at a depth of about 5–10 metres, consists mainly of the ship’s bottom section. On several occasions during the 20th century, parts were salvaged from the wreckage including the rudder that is now in the Maritime Museum’s collections