The U.S. Navy commissioned her for the purpose of rescuing the Arctic expedition under the command of Passed Assistant Surgeon Elisha K. Kane.

The two ships found Kane and his men at Disko Island in Baffin Bay, off the west coast of Greenland, where they had arrived after a hazardous 84-day journey over pack ice and through water in open boats.

In July 1856, Arctic returned to sea to make depth soundings in preparation for the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable.

Arctic was commissioned into the U.S. Coast Survey, and in 1857 and early 1858 she made further cable soundings in the Atlantic Ocean.

Early in 1859, Arctic's propulsion machinery was removed, and she was turned over to the U.S. Lighthouse Board for duty as a lightship.