The keel for "Uriil" was laid down on 28 August 1838 at the A. S. Akimov shipyard in Nikolaev. She was launched on 31 October 1840 and sailed to the naval base at Sevastopol in 1841 for fitting-out. The ship operated with the Black Sea Fleet in 1842, was laid up from 1843 to 1844 when she was reactivated for another period in commission that lasted through 1845. She remained in reserve for much of the next several years, seeing brief periods of active service in 1847 and 1849 before returning to service in 1852 during a period of increasing tension with the Ottoman Empire. In 1853, she assisted in the transport of the 13th Division of the Imperial Russian Army from Odessa to Sevastopol. After the outbreak of the Crimean War with the Ottoman Empire in October 1853, she joined a squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Pavel Nakhimov. She suffered significant storm damage in November which caused several leaks in her hull, preventing her from taking part in the Battle of Sinop, where Nakhimov annihilated a squadron of Ottoman frigates later that month.