List of ironclads

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The list of ironclads includes all steam-propelled warship (supplemented with sails in various cases) and protected by iron or steel armor plates that were built in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, between 1859 and the early 1890s. The list is arranged alphabetically by country. The initial dates of the boats correspond to the launch time, followed by a separation that indicates their retirement or final date.

The list includes ironclads of two different categories or roles, oceanic and coastal (the latter may be floating batteries, monitors and coastal defence ships). The various ironclads design such as the ram, broadside, central battery (or casemate), turret and barbette will be mentioned.[A] Some of these ocean ironclads can be classified as armored frigates, armored corvettes, or others based on their displacement. Wooden hull ships that have been subsequently armored will also be considered in this list.

Although the introduction of the ironclad is clear-cut, the boundary between 'ironclad' and the later 'pre-dreadnought battleship' is less obvious, as the characteristics of the pre-dreadnought evolved from 1875 to 1895. For the sake of this article, a line is drawn around 1890, differing from country to country.

Americas[edit]

Argentina[edit]

The Argentine Almirante Brown (1880) was the first ironclad built entirely of steel (until then it was made of iron).[1]
Monitors
Central battery ironclad
Coastal defence ships

Brazil[edit]

Central battery ironclads (or casemate)
The Brazilian Riachuelo (1883).
Monitors
Ironclads turret ship

Chile[edit]

The Chilean Blanco Encalada (1875) was the first ironclad warship sunk by a self-propelled torpedo in 1891.[2]
Central battery armored frigates
Ironclad turret ship

Haiti[edit]

Casemate ironclad
  • Triumph (1861, ex British merchant Fingal and then USS Atlanta) - lost at sea in 1869 shortly after the purchase

Peru[edit]

Monitors
Broadside armored frigate
Ironclad turret ship
  • Huáscar* (1865) - captured by the Chileans at the Battle of Angamos in 1879, during War of the Pacific
Casemate ironclad
  • Loa (1854/1865)[B] - sunk in the Blockade of Callao in 1881, during War of the Pacific

United States[edit]

Main articles: List of monitors of the United States Navy and List of ships of the Confederate States Navy

Asia[edit]

China[edit]

Coastal defence ships
Ironclads turret ship
  • Dingyuan class
    • Dingyuan (1881) - sunk in 1895 in the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
    • Zhenyuan (1882) - captured by the Japanese in 1895 after the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War

Japan[edit]

The Japanese Kōtetsu (1869) was an ironclad that played a decisive role in the Battle of Hakodate, during Boshin War.
Ironclad ram
  • Kōtetsu* (1864, as CSS Stonewall) - acquired from the United States in 1869 and retired in 1888
Armoured corvettes
Central battery ironclad
  • Fusō (1877) - sold for scrap in 1909
Ironclad turret ship
  • Chin'en (1882, ex Chinese ship Zhenyuan) - captured in 1895 during First Sino-Japanese War and retired in 1911
Coastal defence ship
  • Heien (1890, ex Chinese ship Pingyuan) - captured in 1895 during First Sino-Japanese War and sunk by adverse weather causes during Russo-Japanese War

Ottoman Empire[edit]

Main articles: List of ironclad warships of the Ottoman Empire and List of major surface ships of the Ottoman steam navy § River monitor (Zırhlı Duba)

Siam[edit]

Floating battery
  • Siam Mongkut (1870) - probably discarded 1912

Europe[edit]

Austria-Hungary[edit]

Main article: List of ironclad warships of Austria-Hungary

Denmark[edit]

The Danish Helgoland (1878).
Broadside armored frigates
Ironclad turret ship
Ironclad ram
  • Stærkodder (1864, as CSS Stonewall) - the Danish purchase in 1864 of this ship failed and ended up being sold to Japan in 1867 and renamed Kōtetsu*
Monitors
Casemate ironclad
  • Odin (1872) - retired in 1912
Barbette ironclads

France[edit]

Main article: List of ironclad warships of France

Germany[edit]

Main articles: List of ironclad warships of Germany and List of coastal defense ships of Germany

Greece[edit]

The Greek Hydra (1889).
Central battery armored corvette
Broadside armored corvette
Barbette ironclads

Italy[edit]

Main article: List of ironclad warships of Italy

Netherlands[edit]

The Dutch Koning der Nederlanden (1874) was the largest ship that served in the Dutch Navy during the 19th century.
Casemate ironclad
Ironclads turret ship
Monitors

Norway[edit]

Monitors

Portugal[edit]

Central battery ironclad

Russia[edit]

Main article: List of ironclads of Russia

Spain[edit]

The Spanish Numancia (1863) was the first ironclad to circumnavigate the world, between 1865 and 1867.[5]
Broadside armored frigates
Central battery armored frigates
Floating battery
Monitor
Barbette ironclad
  • Pelayo (1887) - scrapped in 1925

Sweden[edit]

The Swedish John Ericsson (1865), part of a class of five monitors, was designed under the supervision of the Swedish-born inventor, John Ericsson, and built in Sweden.
Monitors
Coastal defence ships

United Kingdom[edit]

Main articles: List of ironclads of the Royal Navy and List of breastwork monitors of the Royal Navy

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ These designs are for oceanic ironclads, although there were also coastal ironclads that used ram, casemate, turret and barbette.
  2. ^ Built in 1854 as a wooden steamship and converted to a casemate ironclad in 1865.[3]
  3. ^ Originally it was a 70-gun ship that became an armored frigate between 1862 and 1864.[4]
  4. ^ It was converted into a casemate ironclad between 1961 and 1863.
  5. ^ It was a steam frigate called Resolución that in 1870 ended up being converted into an armored frigate of the central battery, adopting the new name of Méndez Núñez.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Rodríguez, Horacio (1995). Las fuerzas navales argentinas: historia de la flota de mar (in Spanish). Instituto Browniano. p. 140.
  2. ^ Scheina, Robert L. (1987). Latin America: A Naval History, 1810–1987. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. p. 64. ISBN 0-87021-295-8.
  3. ^ López Martínez, Héctor (1972). Historia maritima del Peru: La república, 1876-1879 (in Spanish). Comisión para Escribir la Historia Marítima del Perú, Editorial Ausonis. p. 262.
  4. ^ Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. p. 55. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  5. ^ Sondhaus, Lawrence (1958). Navies in Modern World History. London: Reaktions book ltd. p. 142.

Bibliography[edit]

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