Kōtetsu, later renamed Azuma, was the first ironclad warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was designed as an armored ram for service in shallow waters, but also carried three guns. The ship was built in Bordeaux, France, for the Confederate States Navy under the cover name Sphinx, but was sold to Denmark after sales of warships by French builders to the Confederacy was forbidden in 1863. The Danes refused to accept the ship and sold her to the Confederates which commissioned her as CSS Stonewall in 1865. The ship did not reach Confederate waters before the end of the American Civil War in April and was turned over to the United States.
Aki (安芸) was one of two Satsuma-class semi-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the first decade of the 20th century. She was the second battleship built domestically in Japan and the first to use steam turbines for propulsion. The ship was named for Aki Province, now a part of Hiroshima Prefecture. The ship saw no combat during World War I. Aki was disarmed in 1922 and sunk as a target in 1924 in accordance with the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922.
HMSZealous was one of the three ships forming the second group of wooden steam battleships selected in 1860 for conversion to ironclads. This was done in response to the perceived threat to Britain offered by the large French ironclad building programme. The ship was ordered to the West Coast of Canada after she was completed to represent British interests in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. Zealous became the flagship for the Pacific Station for six years until she was relieved in 1872. She was refitted upon her arrival and subsequently became the guard ship at Southampton until she was paid off in 1875. The ship was in reserve until she was sold for scrap in 1886.
HMS Lord Warden was the second and last ship of the wooden-hulled Lord Clyde class of armoured frigates built for the Royal Navy (RN) during the 1860s. She and her sister ship, Lord Clyde, were the heaviest wooden ships ever built and were also the fastest steaming wooden ships. They were also the slowest-sailing ironclads in the RN.
Danmark was an armored frigate of the Royal Danish Navy originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy.
The Greek ironclad Vasilissa Olga was purchased from Chile for the Royal Hellenic Navy in 1868. She was converted into a training ship in 1897 and scrapped in 1925.
The Danish ironclad Peder Skram was originally laid down as a wooden steam frigate for the Royal Danish Navy, but was converted to an armored frigate while under construction in the early 1860s. She had an uneventful career before she was stricken from the Navy List on 7 December 1885. The ship was converted into an accommodation ship that year and was broken up in 1897.
The Danish ironclad Lindormen was a monitor built for the Royal Danish Navy in the 1860s. She was scrapped in 1907.
The Danish ironclad Gorm was a monitor built for the Royal Danish Navy in the 1860s. She was scrapped in 1912.
The Danish ironclad Odin was a central battery ironclad built for the Royal Danish Navy in the 1870s. She was scrapped in 1912.
HDMS Helgoland was a coast defence barbette ironclad bult for the Royal Danish Navy in the late 1870s. The ship was decommissioned in 1907 and subsequently scrapped.
Tordenskjold was a torpedo ram built for the Royal Danish Navy in the early 1880s. The ship was sold for scrap in 1908.
The Spanish ironclad Arapiles was a wooden-hulled armored frigate bought from England during the 1860s for the Spanish Navy. Begun as an unarmored steam frigate, she was converted into an ironclad while under construction. Damaged when she ran aground in early 1873, she was under repair in the United States during the Virginius Affair later that year as tensions rose between the US and Spain over the incident. The ship was hulked in 1879 and the poor condition of her hull forced her reconstruction to be cancelled in 1882. Arapiles was scrapped a year or two later.
BAP Independencia was a broadside ironclad built in England for the Peruvian Navy during the mid-1860s. During the War of the Pacific of 1879–83, Independencia ran aground while pursuing the Chilean schooner Covadonga during the Battle of Punta Gruesa on 21 May 1879. The survivors were rescued by Huáscar and the wreck destroyed to prevent its capture.
The Russian ironclad Kniaz Pozharsky was an iron-hulled armored frigate built for the Imperial Russian Navy during the 1860s. She was the first Russian armored ship to leave European waters when she cruised the Pacific Ocean in 1873–75. The ship did not participate in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, and remained in the Baltic Sea until 1879–80, when she made another cruise to the Pacific. Kniaz Pozharsky was assigned to the Baltic Fleet for the rest of her career. She mainly served as a training ship after her refit in 1885 until she was hulked in 1909 and probably scrapped in 1911.
The French ironclad Provence was the lead ship of her class of 10 armored frigates built for the French Navy during the 1860s. Commissioned in 1865, she spent the bulk of her career with the Mediterranean Squadron, often serving as a flagship. The ironclad played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, blockading the North Sea coast of Prussia. Provence was decommissioned after the war, but was reactivated in late 1875.
The Schorpioen-class monitors were a pair of ironclad monitors built abroad for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1860s. They had uneventful careers and were stricken from the Navy List in the first decade of the 20th century. Stier became a target ship and was sunk in 1925. Schorpioen was converted into an accommodation ship in 1909. She was captured by the Germans during World War 2, but survived the war. She remained in service until 1982 and then became a museum ship.
The Buffel-class monitors were a pair of ironclad monitors built for the Royal Netherlands Navy in the 1860s. They had uneventful careers and were stricken from the Navy List in the late 1890s. Guinea was scrapped in 1897, but Buffel was hulked and converted into an accommodation ship in 1896. She was captured by the Germans during World War II, but survived the war. She became a museum ship in 1979.
The Drache-class ironclads were a pair of wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the Austro-Hungarian Navy in the 1860s, the first ironclads built for Austria-Hungary. Ordered in response to a pair of Italian ironclads in 1860, Drache and Salamander were laid down in early 1861, launched later that year, and completed in 1862. They participated in the Austrian victory over the Italians in the Battle of Lissa, where Drache destroyed the coastal defense ship Palestro, one of two Italian ships sunk in the action. Both ships were withdrawn from front-line service in 1875. Drache's hull was in poor condition, so she was discarded and eventually broken up in 1883, and Salamander became a harbor guard ship. She was hulked in 1883 and converted into floating storage for naval mines before being scrapped in 1895–1896.
The French ironclad Flandre was one of ten Provence-class armored frigates built for the French Navy in the 1860s. Commissioned in 1865, she was initially assigned to the Northern Squadron and sometimes served as a flagship. The ironclad played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, blockading the North Sea coast of Prussia. Flandre was decommissioned after the war and remained in reserve for the next decade and a half. The ship was disarmed in 1884 and was scrapped three years later.
Denmark
