Pallada (Russian: Паллада) was a sail frigate of the Imperial Russian Navy, most noted for its service as flagship of Vice Admiral Yevfimy Putyatin during his visit to Japan in 1853, which later resulted in the signing of the Treaty of Shimoda of 1855, establishing formal relations between the two countries. In addition to her diplomatic mission, her crew also conducted numerous geographical and natural studies in the Far East. She was scuttled by her own crew in the Crimean War due to the poor condition of her hull in 1855.ConstructionPallada was built at the Admiralty Shipyard in St Petersburg, with her hull design based on the British frigate HMS President (1829), which in turn was based after an American frigate, President which had been captured as a prize of war by the Royal Navy during the War of 1812. The ship was intended from the start for use by members of the Russian imperial family on diplomatic missions, and Tsar Nicholas I issued an imperial rescript commanding that the vessel incorporate all of the latest innovations. After launching, she was based at Kronstadt with the Baltic Fleet and was assigned to the command of Captain Pavel Nakhimov, one of the ablest commanders in the Russian Navy. She entered active service in early August 1833.

DescriptionPallada was a three-masted frigate of wooden construction, with a transverse steel reinforcement skeleton in her hull. The length of the hull, at the height of the main deck battery, was 52.73 m (173.0 ft) (without bowsprit), the maximum interior width was 13.31 m (43.7 ft). Her hull was sheathed in copper sheets, to prevent destruction of the wood by marine organisms. A novelty on the Russian ships at the time was the use of portholes for lighting crew spaces on the lower deck.

Nominally, Pallada was classified as 44-gun frigate (Fifth-rate); however, her actual weaponry in service consisted of 30 x 24-pounder guns on her upper deck and 22 x 24-pounder carronades on her quarterdeck and forecastle. Her crew numbered 426 men.