[1] At 7am on 4 July 1814, Medway was under the command of Captain Augustus Brine when she encountered the USS Syren, a 16-gun United States brig.

An eleven-hour chase ensued, with Syren's crew throwing their cannons, anchors and ballast overboard in the hope of escaping the pursuing British vessel.

[Note 1] Medway was converted to serve as a prison ship at the Royal Naval Dockyard on Ireland Island in Bermuda in 1847.

Bermuda's manpower was entirely devoted to shipbuilding and seafaring, and the shortage of cheap manual labour led the Admiralty to import convicts from British and Irish prisons, who were housed in hulks like the Medway.

For this, he was ordered to receive punishment (presumably flogging) on Tuesday, 3 July 1849, with the other convicts aboard the hulk assembled behind a rail to witness.