Pelorus was commissioned in July 1808 under Commander the Honourable James William King, and sailed for the Leeward Islands on 15 December.

In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Martinique" to any surviving crewmen from that campaign who wished to claim it.

On 16 October Pelorus and Hazard were in company when they came upon the French privateer schooner Général Ernouf,[4] moored under the guns of the battery of St. Marie on the east coast of the southern part of Guadeloupe.

Hazard and Pelorus attempted to send in a cutting out party during the night, but the boats could not find a channel.

[6] Fire from Hazard and Pelorus silenced the batteries but as the British came alongside the French crew, an estimated 80-100 men, fled ashore.

In 1847 the Admiralty awarded the Naval General Service Medal with clasp "Guadaloupe" to any surviving crewmen from that campaign who wished to claim them.

On 7 March boats from Endymion, Rattler, and a third British vessel, destroyed the American privateer Mars, of 15 guns and 70 men, off Sandy Hook.

The crash destroyed the bowsprit and sent the foremast over the side; both had to be cut away despite the heavy seas and otherwise bad weather.

In January 1827, Pelorus was employed in the Mediterranean protecting British trade in the Archipelago, at Alexandria, and around the coasts of Syria and Caramania.

In September, Captain Richard Meredith recommissioned Pelorus and she joined the West Africa Squadron.

The charge was that on 18 April 1832, while in command of the prize crew on the Segunda Theresa, Sausmarez had the boatswain's mate of Lynx administer 24 lashes to Francis Brown for neglect of duty.

The Court found against Meredith and charged him £1092 in damages[21] Pelorus continued to patrol the Bight of Benin and the vicinity of Princees Island.

Pelorus — under Commander Harding — called at the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 16 December, and stayed for six days.

Captain John Clunies-Ross — the "King of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands" — had asked for a visit from a naval vessel to forestall a possible revolt by the inhabitants.

In mid-September 1837, Pelorus sailed to Rangoon to deliver an ultimatum to the mutinous King Tharyarwaddy from the Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland.

On 9 January 1838, she arrived at Fremantle from Calcutta, departing on 19 March for King George Sound carrying a party including Governor of Western Australia Captain James Stirling.

While there a boatcrew, under master's mate Charles Forsyth, surveyed the nearby Tor Bay for a potential new anchorage.

On 22 August, Pelorus sailed into Port Underwood, New Zealand, and cast anchor in Oyster Cove.

Lieutenant Augustus Leopold Kuper was nominated acting commander of Pelorus on 27 July 1839.

[29] On 26 August, Pelorus and HMS Herald attempted to scuttle the British merchant ship Lucretia, which had caught fire off Kyardbilly's point, Sydney.

[29] After repairs, in late July 1840, Pelorus sailed from Sydney with Herald to take part in the First Opium War.

The officers and crew transferred to the steam paddle and sail survey cutter Bentinck, which Commodore Sir J.J.G.

[33] Pelorus sank on 25 December 1844 when she struck a shoal at 8°8′30″N 115°30′0″E / 8.14167°N 115.50000°E / 8.14167; 115.50000 off the coast of Borneo in the South China Sea.

[34] This article includes data released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported UK: England & Wales Licence, by the National Maritime Museum, as part of the Warship Histories project.