FS Gloire (1858-1883)
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 La Gloire, first ocean-going ironclad warship in history.
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| Warship | Missing image Frajack.png French Navy Jack | |
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| Shipyard: | Toulon, France | |
| Laid down: | April 1858 | |
| Launched: | 24 November 1859 | |
| Commissioned: | August 1860 | |
| Decommissioned: | 1879 | |
| Fate: | Scrapped in 1883 | |
| General Characteristics | ||
| Displacement: | 5,630 tonnes | |
| Dimensions: | 256 ft x 56ft x 28ft (77.8m x 17m x 8.4m) | |
| Armament: | 36-6.4in (163mm) rifled muzzle-loaders model (1858/60) | |
| Armament (after 1866): | 8-9.4in (239mm) and BL model 1864, 6-7.6in (193mm) BL model 1866 | |
| Armour: | 4 1/3 to 4 2/3 inches (110 to 119 mm) iron plates | |
| Propulsion: | Sail and single shaft HRCR (horizontal return), 2,500hp (1.9MW) steam engine = 13kts | |
| Boilers: | 8 oval boilers | |
| Coal capacity: | 665 tons | |
| Complement: | 570 | |
The French Navy's La Gloire ("Glory") was the first ocean-going ironclad warship in history.
She was launched in 1859 following the Crimean War, in response to new developments in naval gun technology, especially the Paixhans guns and rifled guns, which used explosive shells with destructive power against wooden boats.
A 5630-ton broadside battleship, she used massive iron plates sheathed over a wooden hull structure. She was built at Toulon, France.
La Gloire initiated the obsolescence of traditional non-armoured wooden ships-of-the-line, and all major navies had no choice but to build ironclads of their own.
She was soon outclassed however by newer models such as the British Navy's HMS Warrior. Her wooden hull rapidly deteriorated, and she was decommissioned in 1879.
She had two sister ships: Invincible and Normandie, both commissionned in 1862.
Reference
"Steam, Steel and Shellfire. The steam warship 1815-1905" Conway's History of the ship ISBN 0785814132fr: Frégate cuirassée La Gloire