Volage was 270feet long between perpendiculars and had a beam of 42feet. Forward the ship had a draught of 16feet, but aft she drew 21feet. Volage displaced 3078LT and had a burthen of 2,322 tons. Her iron hull was covered by a 3inches layer of oak that was sheathed with copper from the waterline down to prevent biofouling.[1] Watertight transverse bulkheads subdivided the hull.[2] Her crew consisted of 340 officers and ratings.[1] The ship was nicknamed Vollidge by her crew.[3]
The ship had one 2-cylinder trunk engine made by John Penn & Sons driving a single 19feet propeller.[1] Five rectangular boilers provided steam to the engine at a working pressure of 30psi.[4] The engine produced a total of 4530ihp which gave Volage a maximum speed of 15.3kn. The ship carried 420LT of coal, enough to steam 1850nmi at . Volage was ship rigged and had a sail area of 16593square feet.[1] The lower masts were made of iron, but the other masts were wood. The ship's best speed under sail alone was . Her funnel was semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance[4] and her propeller could be hoisted up into the stern of the ship to reduce drag while under sail.[1]
The ship was initially armed with a mix of 7-inch and 64-pounder 64 cwt[5] rifled muzzle-loading guns. The six 7inches 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.[6] 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 14inches torpedoes were added as well.[1]
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.[1] 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.[7] 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[8] and sold for scrap on 17 May 1904.[1]