HMS Erebus was a Hecla-class bomb vessel constructed by the Royal Navy in Pembroke Dockyard, Wales in 1826. The vessel was named after the dark region in Hades of Greek Mythology called Erebus.

The ship was armed with two three ton mortars. After two years in the Mediterranean Sea, she was refitted to work in the Arctic. In 1840, Erebus and Terror, departed from Tasmania for Antarctica on November 21. In January 1841, the crew from both ships landed on Victoria Land, and proceeded to name areas of the landscape after British politicians, scientists, and acquaintances. On February 1, 1840, the ships encountered the Ross Ice Shelf which they were unable to penetrate. The two ships remained in the Ross Sea until the end of the month and then returned to Tasmania.

In 1843, Erebus and Terror sailed to the Falkland Islands and then to the Antarctic Peninsula. The ships conducted studies in magnetism, and returned with oceanographic data and collections of botanical and ornithological specimens.

Erebus and Terror were fitted with 20 horsepower (15 kW) engines and single-screw propellers in 1844. The two ships were last seen entering Baffin Bay in August 1845.

The ships' fate were revealed in a series of expeditions into the Arctic between 1848 and 1859 when it was discovered that both ships had become icebound.