Nemesis, together with her sister ships Phlegethon, Pluto, Proserpine, Ariadne, and Medusa, was built by John Laird's yard at Birkenhead and William Fairbairn & Sons at Millwall.

"[7]Nemesis was a gunboat built by British shipbuilding company John Laird's Birkenhead Iron Works in three months.

The steam- and sail-powered ship was particularly effective in China because her shallow draught of only five feet allowed her to travel up rivers to pursue and engage other vessels and targets.

[12] Nemesis arrived off the coast of China in late 1840,[3] although when she set sail from Liverpool it was publicly intimated that she was bound for Odessa to keep the voyage a secret.

[6] A British officer wrote that the outbreak of the First Opium War "was considered an extremely favourable opportunity for testing the advantages or otherwise of iron steam-vessels.

[14] Around the end of 1846 as a result of mob rioting in Canton which had started in July, she was posted by Sir John Davis to cover the East India Company's factory there.