Maeander served in the East Indies, cooperating with James Brooke in the suppression of piracy.

Next, in September 1849 she sailed from Singapore via Batavia for Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific coast of America;[1]: 435  United States Army Lieutenant George H. Derby, in his "Report of the Expedition of the U.S. Transport Invincible" notes that Keppel with the Maeander was in the Mexican port of Guaymas on 5 February 1851.

After twelve months on the Valparaiso station,[1]: 551  Maeander then returned to Britain with $860,000 in bullion[2] via the Straits of Magellan.

On 2 December 1856, James Robert Drummond was appointed captain of Maeander, for coast guard service.

In July 1870 Maeander was wrecked in a gale in the South Atlantic Ocean off Ascension Island.

A memorial tablet to the men of Maeander killed between 1848 and 1851 can be seen at St Ann's Church, HMNB Portsmouth.