HMS Volage was a sixth-rate sailing frigate of the Royal Navy, launched in 1825. She was a unique design, built by the "superior class of Portsmouth shipwright apprentices," and carried 28 guns. The vessel measured approximately 113 feet 10 inches (34.7 meters) along the gun deck, with a keel length of 95 feet 7¾ inches (29.2 meters). Her beam was 32 feet 2 inches (9.8 meters), and she had a depth in the hold of 8 feet 9 inches (2.7 meters). Displacing around 515 tons burthen, she was constructed with the purpose of succeeding the Atholl-class corvettes, with her construction ordered on 16 June 1819, laid down in August, and completed with fitting out by 26 January 1826. HMS Volage played a significant role in various military and diplomatic missions. She served as the lead ship in the Aden Expedition, owing to her being the largest and most heavily armed among the assembled ships. Notably, in 1831, she was docked in Rio de Janeiro, where she transported Emperor Pedro I of Brazil to Portugal after his abdication, to face his brother King Miguel during the Portuguese Civil War. The vessel also participated in the First Opium War, fighting at the Battle of Chuenpi under the command of Captain Henry Smith. In 1847, HMS Volage was converted into a survey ship, serving under commanders such as Thomas Graves. Her service extended to the Baltic during the Crimean War. Later, she was repurposed as a powder barge at Sheerness Dockyard in 1855, then recommissioned as a storeship for Baltic operations. She was loaned to the War Department as a powder depot in the River Medway in 1864, briefly returned to Admiralty control in 1871, and served as a floating depot for gun cotton at Upnor. Her extensive service concluded with her scrapping at Chatham Dockyard, completed on 12 December 1874. HMS Volage's varied career highlights her adaptability and significance within 19th-century maritime operations.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.