[2] The wooden sloops of the Cruizer class were designed under the direction of Lord John Hay, and after his "Committee of Reference" was disbanded, their construction was supervised by the new Surveyor of the Navy, Sir Baldwin Walker.

The Greyhound-class sloop of 1855 was essentially a Cruizer-class design adapted to carry a more powerful engine developing an indicated horsepower of up to 786 hp (586 kW), giving a top speed under steam of 10 knots (19 km/h).

Renamed Cruiser in 1856, she served on the China station during the Second Opium War, including the taking of Canton and the attack on the Taku Forts on the Peiho river in 1859.

She became part of the Steam Reserve in 1870, but in 1872 she recommissioned in Portsmouth for service as a sail training ship in the Mediterranean, for which role her engines were removed.

Her captain, Commander Edward Hay, was killed on 30 April 1864 during the storming of Gate Pā,[5] and his Coxswain, Samuel Mitchell, was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.

During the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-76 Alert reached a latitude of 82°N, and her second-in-command, Commander Albert Hastings Markham, took a sledge party as far as 83° 20' 26"N, a record at the time.

She was used to survey the Strait of Magellan, as well as Canadian and Australian waters, and on 20 February 1884 was loaned to the US Navy to assist in the rescue of the expedition under Adolphus Greely.

In 1885 she was transferred again to the Canadian Government for survey in the Hudson Bay area, on completion of which she was employed as a lighthouse supply vessel and buoy tender.