Central Battery Ironclad, in service . The Audacious class… HMS Iron Duke in Bergen, visited by the Kaiser. Development The Admiralty since 1859 and the knowlege Napoleon III was built a fleet of ironclads, sparked a new naval arms race betwene Britain and France. The first happened at the time of the Crimean war, with … Read more
Broadside Ironclad Corvette in service 1868-1887. HMS Penelope was a central-battery iron hulled armoured corvette of the Royal Navy in service from 1968 to 1887, with a shallow draugh, designed by N. Barbany under the guidance of CNT O. Reed. She served with the Channel Fleet, then First Reserve Squadron in 1869 and a coast … Read more
Broadside Ironclad Frigates: HMS Lord Clyde, Lord Warden. In service 1866-1885. Design of the class Development The “ironclad race” kickstarted between France and Britain in 1859 had almpost the same effect on the RN as the HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Suddenly British Yards were caught pants down with massive stock of wood and classic wooden … Read more
Central Battery Ironclad Frigate in service 1866-1914 (Indus II 1904). HMS Bellerophon was designed by Sir Edward Reed as a central battery frigate with large guns and a better power-to-weight ratio, a thicker but reduced area armour and sharp beak ram combined with a classical style plough bow and double bottom. This was an iron … Read more
Broadside Ironclad Frigate in service 1866-1875. HMS Pallas was a purpose-built wooden-hulled, centre battery ironclad laid down in 1863 s a private venture at Woolwich by Sir Edward Reed. The reason was to use the stocks of seasoned timber held in the Woolwich Dockyard initially reserved for traditional wooden battleships. The design was accepted by … Read more
Ironclad Corvette, in service until 1876. HMS Favorite, 7th of the name, was an ironclad screw corvette launched in 1864, one of the three small wooden warships with HMS Research and HMS Enterprise selected by Sir Edward Reed for conversion to ironclads, as part of the French-British ironclad race of the early 1860s. In her … Read more
Ironclad Sloop (1862-1864), service until 1885. HMS Enterprise (7th of the name) was an armoured sloop launched in 1864 at Deptford Dockyard, laid down originally as a wooden screw sloop of the Camelion class, like her near sister and box battery USS Research. She was designed by Edward Reed as a central battery ironclad to … Read more
Box Battery Experimental Ironclad (1861-1864), service until 1879. HMS Research was a small ironclad converted from a wooden-hulled sloop, intended as a prototype on which new types of armament and armour could be tested to see if such conversion, rather than a frigate or ship-of-the line, was viable, notably for conversions in wartime but also … Read more
Broadside Ironclad (1859-1867), service until 1885. HMS Royal Alfred was a central-battery ironclad frigate laid down in 1859 as a 90-gun 2 decker, like the Prince Consort class (Prince Consort, Caledonia, Ocean) but also converted like Royal Oak, Repulse, Zealous… She was converted as an ironclad while on the stocks and completed in 1864 for … Read more
broadside ironclad (1860-1865): HMS Prince Consort, Caledonia, Ocean, Royal Oak. The Prince Consort class were wooden-hulled ironclad types, converted from 91-guns two-deckers of the Bulwark class, the HMS Royal Oak on one hand and the HMS Prince Consort, HMS Ocean, and HMS Caledonia. HMS Royal Oak became Britain’s 5th ironclad completed. Prince Consort, Ocean, and … Read more
