HMS Medusa was one of three 2-gun Merlin-class paddle packet boat built for the Royal Navy during the 1830s.

[1] The Medusa class was fitted with a pair of steam engines, rated at 312 nominal horsepower, that drove their paddlewheels.

[2] Medusa, the fourth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[3] was ordered on 10 March 1838, laid down two months later at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 31 October of that same year.

[1] On 28 November 1849, Medusa ran aground at Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône, France, whilst conveying mails from London to India.

[4] On 14 March 1851, Medusa collided with the British brig Caroline in Grand Harbour, Malta, as she was leaving port.