[3] Laid down in 1858,[2] Atlas was one of the ships under construction at Chatham that were inspected by the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on 23 August 1859.

[3] In June 1881, the Lords of the Admiralty agreed to lend Atlas and Endymion to the Metropolitan Asylums Board along with a steam pinnace, due to an outbreak of smallpox.

There was opposition to the proposed use of Atlas from the Thames Conservancy and other public and private bodies.

[8] She was initially stationed at Greenwich, Kent, in a berth which had been previously used for another hospital ship.

This drew an objection from the shipbuilders Messrs Rennie because some of their employees refused to work near the riverside where Atlas was moored.

[12] In 1882, the Thames Conservancy wrote to the Metropolitan Asylums Board urging them to move Atlas and Endymion from Greenwich.

The Thames Conservancy also called upon the board to pay a large claim for expenses incurred by Messrs Rennie's.

[13] In August 1882, Atlas was moved to nearby Deptford Creek,[1] and in 1883 downstream to Long Reach, near Dartford.