Medina had a length at the gun deck of 175feet and 153feet at the keel. She had a beam of 33feet, and a depth of hold of 16feet. The ship's tonnage was 889 tons burthen.[1] The Medusa class was fitted with a pair of steam engines, rated at 312 nominal horsepower, that drove their paddlewheels. The ships were armed with a pair of 6-pounder carronades.[2]
Medina, the twelfth ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy,[3] was ordered on 30 March 1838, laid down in June 1839 at Pembroke Dockyard, Wales, and launched on 18 March 1840.[2] She was completed in April 1840, but was not commissioned until 19 October 1848 for packet duties in the Mediterranean.[1]
During the Crimean War, she collided with the British barque Agnes Blaikie in the Black Sea off Balaklava, Russia; Agnes Blaikie sank, but her crew were rescued.[4]
Medina was converted into a survey ship on 7 January 1856.[1] On 27 October 1857, she ran aground in the Kilia Channel. She was refloated with the assistance of the Royal Sardinian Navy steamship .[5] In August 1862, she assisted in the refloating of the British steamship Dalmatian, which had run aground in the Gulf of Smyrna.[6]
Medina was paid off on 10 November 1863 at Malta and scrapped in March 1864.[1]