HMS Vestal was a 26-gun sixth-rate frigate of the Royal Navy. She was built to a design by Sir William Symonds and was launched in 1833. On her maiden voyage she departed for the West Indies on 19 October 1833 and arrived in Barbados on 3 December of that year. In October 1835 Vestal seized the Spanish slave ship Amalia. This was to a regular part of her Caribbean duties. During 1838 and 1839 she was in Havana protecting British interests off the coast of Mexico. During the following years she visited Canada, Jamaica, the United States, Argentina and Tasmania.