Imperial Qing Navy – Steam Frigates Hai’an (海安) or known at the time the Zhen’an (镇安 or Chen-an) class of wooden steam powered frigates built for the Imperial Chinese Navy are forgotten today in the shadow of the immense PLAN, but the pair (with her sister Yuyuen) remained the largest and most powerful warships of … Read more
France 1858-1880, Broadside Ironclad Origin of the ironclad concept The naval staff under the 2nd French Empire (Napoleon III) was concerned after the declining state of the French Imperial Navy after the Napoleonic era crippling losses of Trafalgar, Aboukir and many other battles, plus captured ships, leaving quite a modest force to Louis XVIII. Some … Read more
Royal Navy Broadside Ironclads: HMS Warrior, HMS Black Prince 1859–1862, service until 1902 The start of the ironclad age, before the name “battleship” and “capital ship” took over, started in 1860 and lasted until steam-only steel ships became the norm. For more than a decade, the flourishing of ideas and technologies was unprecedented, at a … Read more
Dutch Netherlands Navy: 74 guns 2nd rate, 54 guns Razee, 51 guns steam Frigate, Casemate Ironclad, 1831-1874 HNLMS De Ruyter was a unique case in the Royal Netherlands Navy, once its largest sailing frigate laid down in 1831, before being rebuilt as a steam frigate for a second career and from 1861 rebuilt as a … Read more
Ottoman Navy: Four British built Ironclads (1863-1866): Osmanieh, Mahmudieh, Abdul Aziz, Orkanieh The Osmanieh (or Osmaniye) class were four broadside ironclads built in britain, three at Napier and one at Thames iron works between 1863 and 1866. They were active until the war of 1877-78 with Russia, and swa little action, being preserved by the … Read more
Imperial Russian Navy – Broadside Ironclad built 1860-65, in service until 1886. The Russian ironclad Sevastopol was ordered as a 58-gun wooden frigate by the Imperial Russian Navy in 1860 but converted while under construction into a 32-gun armored frigate. As the first armoured ship of the Russian Navy, she served in the Baltic Fleet, … Read more
Italian Regia Marina, 1863-1896: RM Pirofrigata Roma, Venezia The Roma class ironclads were built in Italy for the Italian Regia Marina from 1863 during the rapid expansion of the newly created fleet. Only two were built, Roma and Venezia, the first having five 254 mm (10 in) and twelve 203 mm (8 in) guns but … Read more
Italian Regia Marina Ironclads, 1862-1890s: Regina Maria Pia, San Martino, Castelfidardo, Ancona Development history The Regina Maria Pia class was a group of four ironclads built for the Regia Marina in the 1860s. The class comprised four ships, Regina Maria Pia, San Martino, Castelfidardo, and Ancona. They were built by French shipyards, as Italian yards … Read more
Spanish Broadside Ironclad (1863-1873) Tetuán was the first Spanish-built Ironclad, the second in service with the Armada (Spanish Navy), designed on French plans but built at Ferrol, and faster than her sister Numancia. Her career included the Cuban squadron, the Glorious revolution, and the Canton of Carthagena uprizing, the Naval Battle of Portmán in which … Read more
The broadside ironclads with a double life Austro-Hungarian Navy, 1862-1883: SMS Kaiser Max, Juan d’Austria, Prinz Eugen Austrian Fleet | pre-WW1 fleet | WW1 fleet The Kaiser Max class were three broadside ironclads ordered in and later laid down in 1861: Kaiser Max, Prinz Eugen, and Juan de Austria, improved version of the Drache class, … Read more
