She served as flagship for Rear-Admiral Charles Howe Fremantle in the Black Sea during the Crimean War, from 6 January 1855 to 23 September 1856.

From 23 May 1863 to 16 June 1866 she was the flagship of the Pacific Station Southern Division based out of Valparaíso, Chile before returning to Britain on 17 November 1866 and being broken up in 1867.

She was three-eighths completed in January 1846 and built of wood to a design by Richard F. S. Blake, the master shipwright for HMNB Portsmouth from 1830 to 1835.

On 18 October 1854 at the Siege of Sevastopol, he picked up from amongst several powder cases a live shell with the fuse still burning and threw it over the parapet.

Her final Crimean War captain was Edward Rice, from 5 January 1856 until she paid off at Chatham Dockyard on 23 September 1856.

[7] On 1 January 1866, she received a new captain, Commodore Michael de Courcy, remaining flagship of the Pacific Station Southern Division.

Due to the damage inflicted on British property, while the Pacific Station commander, Admiral Henry Mangles Denham in HMS Sutlej and Leander, stood by and watched, it was described as "a Spanish victory over Britain".

[8] Her final captain, William Dowell, took command on 16 June 1866 and brought her home to Sheerness Dockyard for decommission on 17 November 1866.