Ironclad Warship - Early Ironclad Ships and Battles

Early Ironclad Ships and Battles

By the end of the 1850s it was clear that France was unable to match British building of steam warships, and to regain the strategic initiative a dramatic change was required. The result was the first ocean-going ironclad, the La Gloire, begun in 1857 and launched in 1859.

La Gloire's wooden hull was modelled on that of a steam ship of the line, reduced to one deck, sheathed in iron plates 4.5 inches (110 mm) thick. She was propelled by a steam engine, driving a single screw propeller for a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h). She was armed with thirty-six 6.4-inch (160 mm) rifled guns. France proceeded to construct 16 ironclad warships, including two more sister ships to La Gloire, and the only two-decked broadside ironclads ever built, Magenta and Solferino.

The Royal Navy had not been keen to sacrifice its advantage in steam ships of the line, but was determined that the first British ironclad would outmatch the French ships in every respect, particularly speed. A fast ship would have the advantage of being able to choose a range of engagement which could make her invulnerable to enemy fire. The British specification was more a large, powerful frigate than a ship-of-the-line. The requirement for speed meant a very long vessel, which had to be built from iron. The result was the construction of two Warrior class ironclads; HMS Warrior and HMS Black Prince. The ships had a successful design, though there were necessarily compromises between 'sea-keeping', strategic range and armour protection; their weapons were more effective than that of La Gloire, and with the largest set of steam engines yet fitted to a ship they could steam at 14.3 knots (26.5 km/h). Yet the Gloire and her sisters had full iron-armour protection along the waterline and the battery itself. Warrior and Black Prince (but also the smaller Defence and Resistance) were obliged to concentrate their armour in a central 'citadel' or 'armoured box', leaving many main deck guns and the fore and aft sections of the vessel unprotected. Iron hulls also required more intensive repair time in dockyards worldwide—which the Royal Navy was not prepared for by the 1860s. Easily-fouled iron hulls could not be coppered like the French wooden hulls because of a corrosive reaction. Nevertheless, as a symbol of Britain's industrial, financial and maritime capabilities and potential at least, the Warrior class ironclads were in many respects the most powerful warships in the world, but were soon rendered obsolete by rapid advances in naval technology which did not necessarily favour the richest or most 'maritime' powers.

By 1862, navies across Europe had adopted ironclads. Britain and France each had sixteen either completed or under construction, though the British vessels were larger. Austria, Italy, Russia, and Spain were also building ironclads. However, the first battles using the new ironclad ships involved neither Britain nor France, and involved ships markedly different from the broadside-firing, masted designs of La Gloire and Warrior. The use of ironclads by both sides in the American Civil War, and the clash of the Italian and Austrian fleets at the Battle of Lissa, had an important influence on the development of ironclad design.