The 74-gun third-rate Hastings, 1,763 tons b.m., was built in Calcutta in 1818 for the Hon. East India Company. Purchased from the Company upon her arrival in England the following June, she was 177 feet in length with a 48½ foot beam. At the time of her acquisition by the Royal Navy, she took part in an early successful steam trial when, on 4 July 1819, a hired steamer called Eclipse towed the Hastings from London to Margate in 8 hours. During her long peacetime service with the navy she was chosen to convey the Dowager Queen Adelaide to Malta in 1838 where William IV's widow was to spend winter. More active duties included the bombardment of Beirut and landing troops there in September 1840 as well as several operations against Chinese pirates in 1849-50. Converted to screw propulsion early in 1855, she was sent to the Baltic where she was last in action at the bombardment of Sveaborg on 9 August. Handed over for Coast Guard use in 1857, she became a coal hulk in 1870 until finally sold out of the service in 1885.