"Hornet" served in the Baltic in 1854 during the Russian War, and from 1854 until 1859 she served in the East Indies and in China, taking part in the Second Opium War. After a refit in 1859-1860 she recommissioned for the Cape of Good Hope Station and served both there and on the East Indies Station. She paid off at Portsmouth on 22 September 1864 and was broken up by White of Cowes in 1868.