In 1845, Pim was posted to the
survey ship, HMS
Herald, under Captain
Henry Kellett. By 1846 he was in command of the 'Owen,' one of the Herald's tenders which made extensive surveys on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Central America. In 1847 he travelled with
Berthold Carl Seemann on a journey across the Cordillera of the Andes. He also took part in surveys in the
Falkland Islands, the western coast of South America, and north to
British Columbia. During this time he took part in three detours to search for the missing Sir
John Franklin expedition. He transferred from
Herald to HMS
Plover, wintering at
Chamisso Island in
Kotzebue Sound during 1849/50, spending considerable time with the local
Malimiut, before returning to
Herald. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1851, and in April 1852 he returned to the Arctic,
taking part in the rescue of
Robert McClure and the crew of . Pim was the first man to travel from a ship on the eastern side of the
Northwest Passage to one on the western side. Pim served in the Baltic in 1855 during the
Crimean War commanding HMS
Magpie where he was wounded. , the attack on the "Banterer's" boat in Sai-Lau Creek, Canton River on 13 December 1857. Pim fends off the attackers. He was wounded again in 1857 while commanding HMS
Banterer in Chinese waters. He was made a commander in 1858. Pim went to the
West Indies in command of HMS
Gorgon in 1860 and returned home on HMS
Fury. He made post captain in 1868 and was compulsorily retired in 1870. He studied law after retirement and was
called to the Bar of the
Inner Temple in 1873. Pim practiced law in Bristol, mainly on admiralty cases, and became a magistrate for the county of
Middlesex. He was elected Member of Parliament for Gravesend in 1874. Pim was made rear-admiral in 1885. Pim wrote several articles, books, and pamphlets. "Remarks on the
Isthmus of Suez, with Special Reference to the Proposed Canal" was published in the
Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of London in 1859, and
Proposed Transit-Route across Central America, from a New Harbour in Nicaragua was published three years later. His 1839
A Brief sketch of the life of the late Zachary Macaulay, Esq., F.R.S. As connected with the subjects of the abolition of the slave trade and slavery was his only biography. His journals as a
Midshipman aboard the
Herald provided most of the discussion for the Arctic portions of the six-year cruise. ==Organisations==