This is a list of
ironclad
An ironclad is a steam engine, steam-propelled warship protected by Wrought iron, iron or steel iron armor, armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships ...
s of the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
. An ironclad was a steam-propelled warship in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, protected by iron or steel armour plates.
The term ''battleship'' was not used by the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
* Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
* Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
*Admiralty, Tr ...
until the early 1880s, with the construction of the
''Colossus'' class. Prior to this point, a wide range of descriptions were used.
While the introduction of the ironclad is clear-cut, the boundary between 'ironclad' and the later '
pre-dreadnought battleship
Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built between the mid- to late- 1880s and 1905, before the launch of in 1906. The pre-dreadnought ships replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s. Built from steel, prote ...
' is less obvious, as the characteristics of the pre-dreadnought evolved. For the sake of this article, the
''Royal Sovereign''-class are treated as the first pre-dreadnoughts on account of their high freeboard and mixed battery of guns.
Glossary
* BU =
broken up
Ship-breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for either a source of parts, which can be sold for re-use, or for the extraction ...
* In the sections listing warships in the English/Royal Navy from 1860 onwards, the dates have been quoted using the modern convention of the year starting on 1 January.
Sea-going ironclads (1860–1888)
*
broadside ironclad
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. T ...
s
**
''Warrior'' (1860) - Preserved Portsmouth
**
''Black Prince'' (1861) - Renamed ''Emerald'' 1903, renamed ''Impregnable III'' 1910, sold for BU 1923
* broadside ironclads
**
''Defence'' (1861) - Renamed ''Indus'' 1898; hulked 1922; sold for BU 1935
**
''Resistance'' (1861) - Sold 1898; foundered 1899; raised and BU
* broadside ironclads
**
''Hector'' (1862) - Sold for BU 1905
**
''Valiant'' (1863) - Renamed ''Indus'' 1898, ''Valiant (Old)'' 1916, and ''Valiant III'' 1919; became floating oil tank 1924; BU 1957
*
''Achilles'' (1863) broadside ironclad — Renamed ''Hibernia'' 1902, ''Egmont'' 1904, ''Egremont'' 1918, and ''Pembroke'' 1919; sold for BU 1925
* broadside ironclads
**
''Minotaur'' (1863) - Renamed ''Boscawen'' 1904, ''Ganges'' 1906, and ''Ganges II'' 1908; sold for BU 1922
**
''Agincourt'' (1865) - Renamed ''Boscawen III'' 1904 and ''Ganges II'' 1906; became coal hulk ''C109'' 1908; sold for BU 1960
**
''Northumberland'' (1866) - Renamed ''Acheron'' 1904; became coal hulk ''C'' 1909, renamed ''C68'' 1926; sold 1927; became hulk ''Stedmound'', BU 1935
* broadside ironclads (converted from
''Bulwark'' class 2-deckers)
**
''Prince Consort'' (1862) (ex-''Triumph'') - Sold for BU 1882
**
''Caledonia'' (1862) - Sold for BU 1886
**
''Ocean'' (1862) - Sold for BU 1882
*
''Royal Oak'' (1862) broadside ironclad (converted from ''Bulwark'' class 2-decker) - Laid up 1871; sold for BU 1885
*
''Royal Alfred'' (1864)
central-battery ironclad
The central battery ship, also known as a centre battery ship in the United Kingdom and as a casemate ship in European continental navies, was a development of the (high-freeboard) broadside ironclad of the 1860s, given a substantial boost due t ...
(converted from ''Bulwark'' class 2-decker)- Sold for BU 1885
*
''Research'' (1863) central-battery ironclad — Sold for BU 1884
*
''Enterprise'' (1864) central-battery ironclad — Sold for BU 1886
*
''Favorite'' (1864) central-battery ironclad — Sold for BU 1886
*
''Zealous'' (1864) central-battery ironclad (converted from ''Bulwark'' class 2-decker) - Laid up 1875; sold for BU 1886
*
''Repulse'' (1868) central-battery ironclad (converted from ''Bulwark'' class 2-decker) - Sold for BU 1889
* broadside ironclads
**
''Lord Clyde'' (1864) - Sold for BU 1875
**
''Lord Warden'' (1865) - BU 1889
*
''Pallas'' (1865) central-battery ironclad — Sold for BU 1886
*
''Bellerophon'' (1865) central-battery ironclad — Renamed ''Indus III'' 1904; sold for BU 1922
*
''Penelope'' (1867) central-battery ironclad — Hulked 1897; sold for BU 1912
*
''Hercules'' (1868) central-battery ironclad — Renamed ''Calcutta'' 1909 and ''Fisgard II'' 1915; sold for BU 1932
*
''Monarch'' (1868) masted
turret-ship — Renamed ''Simoom'' 1904; sold for BU 1905
*
''Captain''-class masted turret-ship
**
''Captain'' (1869) - Foundered 1870
* central-battery ironclads
**
''Audacious'' (1869) - Renamed ''Fisgard'' 1904 and ''Imperieuse'' 1914; sold for BU 1922
**
''Invincible'' (1869) - Renamed ''Erebus'' 1904 and ''Fisgard II'' 1906; foundered under tow 1914
**
''Iron Duke'' (1870) - Hulked 1900; sold for BU 1906
**
''Vanguard'' (1870) - Sunk in collision 1875
* central-battery ironclads
**
''Swiftsure'' (1870) - Hulked 1901; renamed ''Orontes'' 1904; sold for BU 1908
**
''Triumph'' (1870) - Renamed ''Tenedos'' 1904, ''Indus IV'' 1912, and ''Algiers'' 1912; sold for BU 1921
*
''Sultan'' (1870) central-battery ironclad — Named ''Fisgard IV'' 1906-1931; sold for BU 1946
* mastless turret-ship
**
''Devastation'' (1871) - Sold for BU 1908
**
''Thunderer'' (1872) mastless turret-ship — Sold for BU 1909
*
''Alexandra'' (1875) central-battery ironclad — Sold for BU 1908
*
''Temeraire'' (1876) central-battery ironclad with barbettes — Renamed ''Indus II'' 1904 and ''Akbar'' 1915; sold for BU 1921
* ''Superb''-class (intended for Ottoman Empire) central-battery ironclads
**
''Superb'' (launched as ''Hamidieh'', renamed) (1875) - Sold for BU 1906
** (Ottoman ''
Messudieh'')
*
''Neptune'' (1874) (ex-''Independencia'') masted turret-ship — Sold for BU 1903
*
''Dreadnought'' (1875) mastless turret-ship — Sold for BU 1908
*
''Inflexible'' (1876) central citadel turret-ship — Sold for BU 1903
* central citadel turret-ships
**
''Agamemnon'' (1879) - BU 1903
**
''Ajax'' (1880) - Sold for BU 1904
* turret-ships
**
''Colossus'' (1882) - Sold for BU 1908
**
''Edinburgh'' (1882) - BU 1910
* mastless turret ships
** (1882)
** (1884)
** (1885)
** (1885)
** (1886)
** (1885)
* mastless turret ships
** (1887)
** (1887)
* mastless turret ships
** (1887)
** (1888)
Coastal service ironclads
*
''Royal Sovereign'' (1862) turret-ship (converted from ''Duke of Wellington'' class 3-decker) - Sold for BU 1885
*
''Prince Albert'' (1864) turret-ship — Sold for BU 1899
* masted turret-ships
**
''Scorpion'' (1863) - Sunk as target 1901; raised and sold for BU 1903; foundered en route scrapyard 1903
**
''Wivern'' (1863) - Sold for BU 1922
* turret-ships
**
''Cerberus'' (1868) (Victoria) - Renamed ''Platypus II'' 1918; sunk as breakwater 1926
**
''Magdala'' (1870) (India) - Sold for BU 1904
*
''Abyssinia'' (1870) (India) turret-ship — Sold for BU 1903
*
''Hotspur'' (1870) turret-ship — Sold for BU 1904
*
''Glatton'' (1871) turret-ship — Sold for BU 1903
* turret-ships
**
''Cyclops'' (1871) - Sold for BU 1903
**
''Gorgon'' (1871) - Sold for BU 1903
**
''Hecate'' (1871) - Sold for BU 1903
**
''Hydra'' (1871) - Sold for BU 1903
*
''Rupert'' (1872) turret-ship — Sold for BU 1907
* (intended for
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
) central battery ships
**
''Belleisle'' (launched as ''Peki-Shereef'', renamed) (1876) -Sold for BU 1904
**
''Orion'' (planned name: ''Boordhi-Zaffer'') (1879) - Renamed ''Orontes'' 1909; sold for BU 1913
* turret-ships
**
''Conqueror'' (1881) - Sold for BU 1907
**
''Hero'' (1885) - Sunk as target 1908; raised and BU
See also
*
List of ironclads
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 earl ...
*
List of breastwork monitors of the Royal Navy
The breastwork monitor was developed during the 1860s by Sir Edward Reed, Chief Constructor of the Royal Navy, as an improvement of the basic monitor design developed by John Ericsson during the American Civil War. Reed gave these ships a super ...
Sources
* Ballard, Admiral G.A. ''The Black Battlefleet'', published Nautical Publications Co. and Society for Nautical Research, 1980.
* Chesnau, Roger and Kolesnik, Eugene (Ed.) ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905''. Conway Maritime Press, 1979.
* Gardiner, Robert (Ed.). ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921''. Conway Maritime Press, 1985.
* Chesnau, Roger and Gardiner, Robert (Ed.) ''Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946''. Conway Maritime Press, 1980.
* Lyon, David and Winfield, Rif, ''
The Sail and Steam Navy List
''The Sail and Steam Navy List: All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889'' by Rif Winfield and David Lyon is a historical reference work providing details of all recorded ships in commission or intended to serve in the Royal Navy from 181 ...
, All the Ships of the Royal Navy 1815–1889'', pub Chatham, 2004,
* Parkes, Oscar ''British Battleships'', first published
Seeley, Service & Co., 1957, published United States Naval Institute Press, 1990. {{ISBN, 1-55750-075-4
*
Reed, Edward J ''Our Ironclad Ships, their Qualities, Performance and Cost''. John Murray, 1869.
Ironclads
An ironclad is a steam-propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates, constructed from 1859 to the early 1890s. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. Th ...
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...