Mediterranean

Then in October, Commander Peter Richards recommissioned her. 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. Commander Michael Quinn took command from September 1828. On 21 December 1829, she struck a rock at the entrance of Port Mahon, Menorca, Spain; she was refloated on 23 December 1829, but subsequently sank.^[14] Isis came from Gibraltar to retrieve her officers and crew.^[15] Pelorus was refloated, and by 9 May 1830 she was back in Portsmouth. From December 1830 to December 1831, she underwent repairs and an alteration back to a brig.^[3]

Anti-slavery

In 1831, William Wilberforce's anti-slavery law was passed. In September, Captain Richard Meredith recommissioned Pelorus and she joined the West Africa Squadron. Here she patrolled the west coast of Africa to suppress the slave trade. On 9 May 1832, she was at Sierra Leone having brought in the Spanish slaving vessel Segunda Theresa, which was carrying 459 slaves.^{[16][lower-alpha 1]}

On 18 October 1832 Pelorus sailed from the Cape of Good Hope for Simon's Bay. In May 1833 she was back at the Cape, and on the 16th she sailed for Mauritius. She arrived there on 3 June. A month later, on 6 June, she left Mauritius for Colombo with specie to pay the troops in Ceylon. From there she returned to the Cape, from whence she sailed for St Helena, where she arrived on 7 December. She then sailed to Ascension and the west coast of Africa.

On 16 June 1834, Lieutenant Philip de Sausmarez of Pelorus came before a court martial. 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. Meredith preferred the charges because he had forbidden the lash in written orders.^[18] The court supported Suasmarez, who had been under arrest for 18 months before his exoneration.^{[19][lower-alpha 2]}

On 30 June, boats from Pelorus captured the Spanish slaver Pepita. At the time of her capture, Pepita had no slaves aboard. Under the terms of the treaty with Spain, the Royal Navy could only seize vessels actually carrying slaves. The boarding party manufactured evidence by putting three slaves aboard Pepita after boarding her. They then brought another 176 slaves that were on shore waiting to be loaded. Meredith accepted responsibility for the manufacturing of evidence. The Court in Sierra Leone therefore had to order Pepita returned to her master.^[20] Pepita's master then sued for damages. 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.

On 17 December, Pelorus captured the two-gun slaver Sutil. She had 307 slaves aboard, of whom 91 died of dysentery and disease before they could be freed in Sierra Leone.^[22][23]

On 5 January 1835, boats from Pelorus captured the Spanish polacca-bark Minerva, which armed with two 18-pounder and two 8-pounder guns. The boats had sailed 60 mi (97 km) up the Calabar river and laid in ambush. Skillful handling resulted in the capture of the slaver with no casualties to the boarding party although the vessel's guns were double-shotted and the crew and the boarding party exchanged small arms fire. The vessel had a crew of 37 men, two of whom were cut down.^{[lower-alpha 3]} The boarding party consisted of 22 men. The slaver had some 650 slaves aboard, and after her capture, the master arrived with 25 more. In sum, she had 676 aboard, of whom 206 died of disease before they could be freed in Sierra Leone.^[25]

On 24 February 1835 she was off Princes Island where Midshipman Judd died.

On 26 September, Pelorous was paid off at Portsmouth. A bounty was paid on both Sutil and Minerva in June 1836.

Far East and Antipodes

On 31 January 1837, Pelorus was recommissioned under Captain Francis Harding who had taken command on 21 January. She then sailed for the Cape of Good Hope on 9 April, having received specie from London that she was to take to Mauritius via the Cape. She arrived at the Cape on 1 June.

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.

Next, she sailed for Western Australia and Van Diemen's Land. 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. She returned Stirling to Fremantle, arriving on 9 April, then departing on 7 May for Adelaide, Launceston and Sydney, arriving on 22 June. On 5 July she sailed for New Zealand.^[26][27][28]

Then in August Pelorus sailed to New Zealand to conduct a survey of the Marlborough Sounds region. On 22 August, Pelorus sailed into Port Underwood, New Zealand, and cast anchor in Oyster Cove. She was under the temporary command of Lt. Phillip Chetwode while Commander Harding was ill. From here, Chetwode surveyed and named Pelorus River and Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere in New Zealand in honour of his ship. He also named the Chetwode Islands, off Pelorus Sound.

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. The attempt was unsuccessful and the ship exploded and sank.^[30]

Wrecked at Port Essington, Coburg Peninsula, Northern Territory

On 25 November 1839, while anchored off Port Essington, Australia, a hurricane struck Pelorus, wrecking her. She lost 12 of her crew; a whaleboat from Britomart, under Captain Owen Stanley, rescued the survivors. According to Kuper, "Pelorus was buried 9 feet (2.7 m) in the mud for 86 days."

Opium War

On 5 March 1840, Kuper was promoted to command of Alligator, then on 26 December, Lieutenant Kuper was promoted to the rank of commander, his commission being back-dated to when he took command of Pelorus.^[29]

After repairs, in late July 1840, Pelorus sailed from Sydney with Herald to take part in the First Opium War. On 23 April 1841, she arrived at Singapore. One month later, Lieutenant W. W. Chambers, of Wellesley, was appointed and promoted to be acting commander of Pelorus. At the time, Wellesley was at Canton (now Guangzhou) in China.