The brig-sloop Serpent, 434 tons (b.m.), was built by Fletcher's at Limehouse and launched on 14 July 1832. Armed with 14 - 32 pdrs. and 2 - 18 pdrs., she was 101½ feet long and had a 32 foot beam. Dismasted and lucky to survive a severe storm whilst lying in Spithead on 29 November 1836 (see below), her only recorded actions were during the First Burmese War in 1852, when she assisted at the capture of Rangoon (14 April) and elsewhere during the campaign. Colonial policing provided sloops like Serpent with most of their employment, but long periods in the tropics took their toll on the ships. In December 1857 Serpent was reduced to being a target ship and her hulk was broken up at Portsmouth in 1861.
Sold with the painting are copied extracts from Serpent's Log and the Hampshire Telegraph, both giving details of her dismasting in the 1836 gale.