HMS Volage (1869)

HMS Volage was a Volage-class corvette built for the Royal Navy in the late 1860s. She spent most of her first commission assigned to the Flying Squadron circumnavigating the world and later carried a party of astronomers to the Kerguelen Islands to observe the transit of Venus in 1874. The ship was then assigned as the senior officer's ship in South American waters until she was transferred to the Training Squadron during the 1880s. Volage was paid off in 1899 and sold for scrap in 1904.

Description
Volage was 270 ft long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 42 ft. Forward the ship had a draught of 16 ft, but aft she drew 21 ft. Volage displaced 3078 LT and had a burthen of 2,322 tons. Her iron hull was covered by a 3 in layer of oak that was sheathed with copper from the waterline down to prevent biofouling. Watertight transverse bulkheads subdivided the hull. Her crew consisted of 340 officers and enlisted men. The ship was nicknamed Vollidge by her crew.

The ship had one 2-cylinder trunk engine made by John Penn & Sons driving a single 19 ft propeller. Five rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 30 psi. The engine produced a total of 4530 ihp which gave Volage a maximum speed of 15.3 kn. The ship carried 420 LT of coal, enough to steam 1850 nmi at 10 knots. Volage was ship rigged and had a sail area of 16593 sqft. The lower masts were made of iron, but the other masts were wood. The ship's best speed under sail alone was 13 kn. Her funnel was semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance and her propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail.

The ship was initially armed with a mix of 7-inch and 64-pounder 64 cwt rifled muzzle-loading guns. The six 7 in guns and two of the four 64-pounders were mounted on the broadside while the other two were mounted on the forecastle and poop deck as chase guns. The 7-inch guns were replaced in 1873 and the ship was rearmed with a total of eighteen 64-pounders. In 1880, ten BL 6-inch 80-pounder breech-loading guns replaced all the broadside weapons. Two carriages for 14 in torpedoes were added as well.

Service
HMS Volage was laid down in September 1867 and launched on 27 February 1869. The ship was completed in March 1870 at a total cost of £132,817. Of this, £91,817 was spent on her hull and £41,000 on her machinery. Volage was initially assigned to the Channel Fleet under the command of Captain Sir Michael Culme-Seymour, Bt. However, by the end of 1870, she was transferred to the Flying Squadron which circumnavigated the world. The ship returned to England at the end of 1872 and was given a lengthy refit. Volage recommissioned in 1874 to ferry an expedition of astronomers to the Kerguelen Islands to observe the transit of Venus. She grounded on an uncharted shoal there without damage. The following year, the ship was assigned as the senior officer's ship for the South American side of the South Atlantic. Volage was ordered home in 1879 where she was refitted, rearmed and her boilers were replaced. The ship was assigned to the Training Squadron in the 1880s until it was disbanded in 1899. Volage was then paid off and sold for scrap on 17 May 1904.