Design and description
Designed by the French naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme, the ships of the class were intended to fight in the line of battle, unlike the first British ironclads. [1] The ships were 77.25–78.22 meters (253 ft 5 in – 256 ft 8 in) long, [2] with a beam of 17 meters (55 ft 9 in). They had a maximum draft of 8.48 meters (27 ft 10 in), [3] a depth of hold of 10.67 meters (35 ft 0 in) and displaced 5,618–5,650 metric tons (5,529–5,561 long tons ). [2] The ships of the class had a high metacentric height of 2.1 meters (7 ft) and consequently rolled badly. [3] With their gun ports only 1.88 meters (6 ft 2 in) above the waterline, they proved to be very wet. [4] They had a crew of 570 officers and enlisted men. [2]
The ships of the Gloire class had a single horizontal return connecting-rod compound steam engine that drove a six-bladed, 5.8-meter (19 ft 0 in) propeller. [4] The engine was powered by eight Indret [2] oval boilers and was designed for a capacity of 2,500 indicated horsepower (1,900 kW ). [3] On sea trials, the ships exceeded 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph). [2] They carried a maximum of 675 metric tons (664 long tons) of coal which allowed them to steam for 4,000 kilometers (2,500 mi) at a speed of 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph). [4] The Gloire-class ships were initially fitted with a light barquentine rig with three masts that had a sail area around 1,100 square metres (11,800 sq ft). This was later changed to a full ship rig of 2,500 square meters (27,000 sq ft), but later had to be reduced because of excessive rolling. [3]
The ships were initially armed with 36 Modèle 1858 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) rifled muzzle-loading guns, 34（14 each sides and 2 pivot mounts fore and 4 pivot mounts aft as chase guns）of which were positioned on the single gun deck in the broadside. The remaining two guns were placed on the upper deck as chase guns. [2] They fired a 44.9-kilogram (99.0 lb) shell at a muzzle velocity of only 322 meters per second (1,060 ft/s) and proved to be ineffective against armour. [5] They were replaced by rifled breech-loading Modèle 1864 guns in 1868. Four of six 194 and eight 240-millimeter (9.4 in) guns were mounted in the middle of the gun deck and a pair of remaining 194-millimeter (7.6 in) guns replaced the original chase guns. [2]
The wooden hull was completely armoured with wrought iron plates 120 millimeters (4.7 in) thick. Backed by the 760-millimeter (30 in) sides of the hull, the armour extended 5.4 meters (17 ft 9 in) above the waterline and 2.0 meters (6 ft 7 in) below. [4] The Gloire-class ships had an open-topped conning tower with armour 100 millimeters (3.9 in) thick and 10 millimeters (0.4 in) of armour underneath the wooden upper deck. [3]
Solférino was the second and last ship of the Magenta-class of broadside ironclads built for the French Navy in the early 1860s.
The French ironclad Couronne ("Crown") was the first iron-hulled ironclad warship built for the French Navy in 1859–1862. She was the first such ship to be laid down, although the British armoured frigate HMS Warrior was completed first. The ship participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, but saw no combat. She was served as a gunnery training ship from 1885 to 1908 before she was hulked the following year and became a barracks ship in Toulon. Couronne was scrapped in 1934, over 70 years after she was completed.
The Colbert class were a pair of armored frigates built for the French Navy during the 1870s. The ships served as the flagships of the commander and deputy commander of the Mediterranean Squadron for most of their careers. The sister ships took part in the French conquest of Tunisia, notably shelling and landing troops in Sfax in 1881. They were relegated to second-line roles in 1894–95 before being condemned in 1900. The ships were finally sold for scrap in 1909.
Magenta was the lead ship of her class of two broadside ironclads built for the French Navy in the early 1860s. She served as flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron.
The Magenta class consisted of two broadside ironclads built for the French Navy in the early 1860s. They were the only ironclad two-deckers ever built, and the first ironclads to feature a naval ram.
Jeanne d'Arc was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s. She was named for Joan of Arc, a Roman Catholic saint and heroine of the Hundred Years War. Jeanne d'Arc participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 and remained in commission afterwards, unlike many of her sisters. The ship was condemned in 1883, but nothing further is known as to her disposition.
Océan was a wooden-hulled, armored frigate built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s and the lead ship of her class. She was commissioned in 1870 to participate in the Franco-Prussian War and was assigned to the Baltic Squadron that unsuccessfully attempted to blockade Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea. The ship later served in both the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons before being discarded in 1894.
The French ironclad Invincible was the second of the three wooden-hulled Gloire-class ironclads built for the French Navy in 1858–1862. The ships of the Gloire class were classified as armoured frigates because they only had a single gun deck and their traditional disposition of guns arrayed along the length of the hull also meant that they were broadside ironclads. Invincible had an uneventful career and was deployed in North American waters during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71. The unseasoned timber of her hull rotted quickly and she was condemned in 1872 and scrapped in 1876.
The French ironclad Normandie was the third and last of the three wooden-hulled Gloire-class ironclads built for the French Navy in 1858–62. The ships of the Gloire class were classified as armoured frigates because they only had a single gun deck and their traditional disposition of guns arrayed along the length of the hull also meant that they were broadside ironclads. Normandie was the first ironclad to cross the Atlantic in support of the French intervention in Mexico in 1862. Although the ship was active during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, she saw no action. The unseasoned timber of her hull rotted quickly; she was condemned in 1871 and subsequently scrapped.
The French ironclad Alma was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s. The lead ship of her class, she was named after the 1854 Battle of Alma of the Crimean War. The ship spent her early career on the China Station and later supported the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881. She was condemned in 1886, but was not sold until 1893.
The French ironclad Armide was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. Placed into reserve after completion, she was first mobilized for the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. She spent the rest of her career in the Mediterranean and then in the Far East as flagship of the French squadrons there, until her decommissioning in 1880. Armide was use as a target for gunnery trials in 1886.
The French ironclad Atalante was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. She played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, bombarded Vietnamese forts during the Battle of Thuận An in 1884 and participated in the Sino-French War of 1884–1885. Atalante was reduced to reserve in Saigon, French Indochina, in 1885 and sank there two years later after having been condemned.
The French ironclad Montcalm was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. She was named after Major General Montcalm who lost the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. She played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 where she captured one Prussian sailing ship. Montcalm spent most of her later career abroad, either in Chinese waters or in the Pacific Ocean. The ship was condemned in 1891.
The French ironclad Reine Blanche was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s as an improvement over the armored corvette Belliqueuse. She played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 and was accidentally rammed by one of her sister ships in 1877. The ship bombarded the port of Sfax during the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881 before being sent to the Pacific in 1884. She quickly returned to port with worn-out boilers and was condemned later that year.
The French ironclad Thétis was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s. She was named for the Greek sea-goddess Thetis. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871 she was assigned to a squadron of French ships that attempted to blockade the Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870. She accidentally rammed her sister Reine Blanche in 1877. En route to the Pacific in 1884 her propeller fell off and she had to return to France under sail. Thétis was eventually hulked in New Caledonia.
The Alma-class ironclads were a group of seven wooden-hulled, armored corvettes built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s. Three of the ships attempted to blockade Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. Three others patrolled the North Sea and the Atlantic, while the last ship was en route to Japan when the war began and blockaded two small Prussian ships in a Japanese harbor. Afterwards they alternated periods of reserve and active commissions, many of them abroad. Three of the ships participated in the French occupation of Tunisia in 1881 while another helped to intimidate the Vietnamese Government into accepting status as a French protectorate and played a small role in the Sino-French War of 1884–85.
The Océan-class ironclads were a class of three wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s. Océan attempted to blockade Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War and Marengo participated in the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881. Suffren was often used as the flagship for the Cherbourg Division, the Channel Division, Mediterranean Squadron and the Northern Squadron during her career. The ships were discarded during the 1890s.
Victorieuse (Victorious) was the second ship of the La Galissonnière class of wooden-hulled, armored corvettes built for the French Navy during the 1870s. Her construction was delayed for years and the navy took advantage of the extended construction time to upgrade her armament in comparison to the lead ship, La Galissonnière. Unlike her sisters, Victorieuse did not see any combat although she participated in the pacification of the Marquesas Islands in 1880. She was condemned in 1900.
The Provence-class ironclads consisted of 10 ironclad frigates built for the French Navy during the 1860s. Only one of the sister ships was built with an wrought iron hull; the others were built in wood. By 1865 they were armed with eleven 194-millimeter (7.6 in) guns and played a minor role in the 1870–1871 Franco-Prussian War. The ships began to be disposed of in the early 1880s, although several lingered on in subsidiary roles for another decade before they followed their sisters to the scrap yard.
The French ironclad Guyenne was one of 10 Provence-class armored frigates built for the French Navy during the 1860s. Commissioned in 1867, she was initially assigned to the Northern Squadron. The ironclad played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, blockading the Baltic and North Sea coasts of Prussia. Guyenne was decommissioned after the war, but was reactivated in 1877. She was transferred to the Mediterranean Squadron later that year and then to the Eastern Mediterranean the following year. The ship was reduced to reserve in 1879, stricken from the naval register three years later and was scrapped in 1887.
French Navy 