HMS Messenger was a wooden paddle ship, built in 1824 by Benjamin Wallis at Blackwall as Duke of York, and renamed Messenger when purchased by the Royal Navy on 20 August 1830 for £12,481. Initially she was rated as a paddle packet. In 1831, she was re-engined and lengthened by at a cost of £12,560. At around this time she was re-rated as a sloop. She passed Gibraltar in 1830, according to Earl of Beaconsfield's letters en route to Cadiz, Spain. It was reported Benjamin Disraeli was on the boat. She was fitted as a coal depot from May–December 1840, and sold to Henry Castle & Son to be broken up on 22 November 1861.
Her sister ship, George IV, was also purchased by the Royal Navy for a total cost (including Messenger) of £24,977 9s. 4d., and renamed Hermes.Parliamentary Papers. (1847). United Kingdom: H.M. Stationery Office. p. 429
Propulsion The paddle wheels were in diameter and wide. After her lengthening, she was re-engined with 2 engines of 100 nominal horse power each. Her cylinders were in diameter, with a stroke. She obtained a speed of on trials with of fuel loaded. Fuel consumption was about of coal per hour at an average speed of . Her fuel capacity was of coal, and with this load her displacement was .Report from the Select Committee on Steam-navigation to India: With the Minutes of Evidence, Appendix and Index. (1834). United Kingdom: (n.p.). pp. 99-100
Commissions
1830: under Lieutenant William Frederick Lapidge 20 May 1830: under Lieutenant Benjamin Aplin, as a Falmouth packet May 1834: under John King as a transport 27 July 1840: as a coal depot
References