"Shannon" could use both sail or steam power. While steam was much preferred for combat, sail propulsion was considered vital for a ship intended to operate worldwide. She was given a lifting screw in order to increase her efficiency under sail, the last Royal Navy warship to be so equipped. She had three masts, and was initially given a ship rig with 24000 ft² of sail, a point insisted on by the Director of Naval Operations, Capt. Hood. In service, this was reduced to a barque rig with 21500 ft². She was equipped with Laird two-cylinder compound engines, the high-pressure cylinders being 44 in in diameter and the low-pressure cylinders 85 in. Steam came from eight cylindrical boilers at 70 lb pressure. Her design top speed was 13 knots (24 km/h), but her best actual speed was 12.25 knots (23 km/h). To reduce fouling, she had zinc and wood sheathing on her hull.