The frigate had good nautical and habitability conditions, particularly with regard to the size of its facilities, an aspect of paramount importance at a time when she made non-stop voyages of three months with 650 people on board, including passengers.
Her maiden voyage from Goa to Lisbon took place in 1845 with arrival at the Tagus on 4 July. On her first official voyage she travelled to Madeira transporting Lady Amélia, the Empress of Brazil and second wife of Emperor Pedro I of Brazil and King of Portugal, and their daughter, who was suffering from a serious illness and was seeking to recover on the island, but died shortly afterwards.
For 33 years, this ship sailed more than 100,000 nautical miles, the equivalent to five circumnavigations around the world, having made numerous voyages to India, Mozambique and Angola, transporting military units of the army and navy or settlers and exiled convicts, often accompanied by their families.
Among the many missions to which she was assigned, we should highlight her participation as headship of a naval task force to take back the Ambriz, in Angola, which had rebelled in 1855 at the instigation of England, and also her participation in the colonisation of Huíla, where, despite being a warship, she took the unusual and curious mission of transporting sheep, horses and mares from the Cape of Good Hope to Angola.
We should also mention her 7th voyage during which, and on her return from India to Mozambique, she was hit by a very violent storm in the Mozambique channel; in the aftermath, she was quite damaged, as her masts and sailing equipment were virtually destroyed, almost causing her to sink.
She went on her last voyage in 1878; she was no longer used for normal operational activities and was sent to the Azores and Madeira with the mission of providing instruction to midshipmen. During the voyage, she rescued an American barge with fire on board and participated in the salvage of the crew.