"Lively" was present at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent under the command of Captain Lord Garlies. She and three other British frigates jointly fired on a Spanish ship of the line that had become separated from the rest, but other than that "Lively" took no significant part in the combat and suffered no losses. Her main function was to repeat signals. She did take possession of "San Ysidro" (or "San Isidro"), one of the Spanish vessels that surrendered. In 1847 the Admiralty authorized the issuance of the NGSM with clasp "St. Vincent" to the 348 surviving claimants from the battle.