Daring was constructed of an iron frame sheathed with teak and copper (hence 'composite'), and powered by a trunk engine provided by John Penn & Sons.

Daring served on the Pacific and China Stations, working some of the time for the Canadian Government, including conducting hydrography, for which the Canadian Government bore half the cost.

she carried Joseph Howe (the Provincial Secretary at the time) to the mouth of the Tangier River in Halifax County, Nova Scotia.

There he arranged to have law and order restored by carving the gold diggings into appropriately sized lots, and offering them for rental for $40.

[4] In 1877 Commander John Hammer made a sketch survey of the Skeena River entrance from Daring.