The French ironclad ''Gloire'' (, "Glory") was the first ocean-going
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. Th ...
, launched in 1859. It was developed after the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
,
[The Battle of Sinop at the start of the war convinced the world's naval powers that wooden warships could not withstand the new weapons.] in response to new developments of naval gun technology, especially the
Paixhans gun
The Paixhans gun (French: ''Canon Paixhans'', ) was the first naval gun designed to fire explosive shells. It was developed by the French general Henri-Joseph Paixhans in 1822–1823. The design furthered the evolution of naval artillery into the ...
s and
rifled guns, which used explosive shells with increased destructive power against wooden ships, and after the development of the ironclad
floating batteries
A floating battery is a kind of armed watercraft, often improvised or experimental, which carries heavy armament but has few other qualities as a warship.
History
Use of timber rafts loaded with cannon by Danish defenders of Copenhagen a ...
built by the British and French for the bombardment of Russian forts during the Crimean War.
Design and description
''Gloire'' was designed by the French
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
{{Commons category, Architecture occupations
Design occupations
Occupations ...
Henri Dupuy de Lôme as a 5,630-ton
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. Th ...
with a wooden hull. Its 12 cm-thick (4.7 in) armour plates, backed with 43 cm (17 in) of timber, resisted hits by the experimental shooting of the strongest guns of the time (the French 50-pounder and the British 68-pounder) at full charge, at a distance of 20 metres (65 ft).
Her maximum speed was 13.1 knots but other reports suggested no more than 11.75 knots had been attained and that 11 knots was the practical maximum.
As was common for the era, ''Gloire'' was constructed with sails as well as a steam-powered screw. The original rigging was a light
barquentine rig providing 1,096 sq. m (11,800 sq. ft) of surface area. This was later increased to a
full rig providing 2,508 sq. m (27,000 sq. ft) of surface.
Service
''Gloire'' was launched at the arsenal of Mourillon,
Toulon
Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...
, on 24 November 1859; and entered service in August 1860.
It was eliminated from the French fleet registry in 1879, and scrapped in 1883.
Importance in naval history
As the first ocean-going ironclad, ''Gloire'' rendered obsolete traditional unarmoured wooden ships-of-the-line, and all major navies soon began to build ironclads of their own.
Gallery
Image:LaGloirePhotography.jpg, Photograph of ''Gloire'', circa 1860, at the Musée de la Marine, Paris.
Image:LaGloireLaunch.jpg, The launch of ''Gloire''.
Image:Gloire.jpg, ''Gloire'' sailing, 19th century print.
Image:LaGloireModel.jpg, Scale model of ''Gloire'' at the Musée de la Marine.
Image:Couronne-bougault-2.jpg, , near sister-ship of ''Gloire'' after it was rebuilt.
Notes
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gloire
Ships built in France
1859 ships
Gloire-class ironclads