Ironclad warship
Ironclad warships, frequently shortened to just
ironclads, were wooden
ships or ships of composite construction (wooden planking on iron frames) sheathed with thick
iron plates for protection against gunfire. The first uses of iron for naval protection occurred in the
Far East in the
16th century, but the heyday of the ironclad came in the mid-
19th century, when ironclads supplanted wooden ships, and then were themselves replaced by ships made of
steel.
Possibly the first ironclad warships were the
turtle ships (
Hangul:거북선,
Geobukseon or
Kobukson) of
Korea. These are first mentioned in records from 1413 and 1415 in the
Annals of Joseon Dynasty, though the actual design of the ships, and whether they used iron armor, is unclear. Much more detailed records are available for the turtle ships used by the Korean naval leader
Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the
Imjin War (also known as the Seven-Year War) of 1592-1598 between Korea and Ming Dynasty China versus
Japan. These geobukseon do not seem to have had side armor, but instead had a roof covered in iron plates, giving the ships a turtle-like appearance. The armor plates of the roof had sharp retractable iron spikes, making the primary Japanese tactic of grappling and boarding an opposing ship much less effective. The turtle ships were armed with an average of ten long-range cannons on each side and two larger guns to the stern and bow, supplemented by archers firing flaming arrows out of portholes. Retractable sails and oars made for a small profile, and a dragon's head structure at the bow served as a gunport and could also emit sulfur fumes as a smokescreen and irritant. Turtle ships were put to use once again against the
Russian fleet thirty years after the Seven-Year War.
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A 16th century Japanese "Ōatakebune" coastal warship |
In 1576, the Japanese
daimyo Oda Nobunaga had six partially iron-covered war ships (
Ōatakebune 大安宅船) constructed. These ships were called "Tekkousen" - literally, iron armored ships - and were armed with multiple cannons and large caliber
rifles. Nobunaga defeated the navy of his enemy
Mori Motonari with these ships at the mouth of the
Kizu River,
Osaka in 1578 with a successful naval blockade. Despite being regarded as floating fortresses, they were used as warships in the Seven-Year War with Korea. The most notable and largest of these ships was the
Nihon Maru, which briefly fought a Korean turtle ship in the battle of Angolp'o harbor in 1592.
Although not a generally accepted theory, some postulate that the first instance of an ironclad warship may have been a ship designed by General Qin Shifu during the
Song Dynasty in
1203. Some Chinese historical records credit Qin Shifu with the invention of a ship that was shaped like a Falcon, which had sheet-iron armor and an iron ram.[
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The French La Gloire, the first ocean-going ironclad warship. |
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The French ironclad Solferino, of the Magenta class, the only two-decked broadside ironclad battleships ever built. |
At the
Battle of Sinope in
1853, the
Russian Baltic Fleet, equipped with newly developed
Paixhans guns using explosive shells, destroyed a
flotilla of wooden Turkish ships with contemptuous ease. This early engagement of the
Crimean War signaled the importance of iron armor to the navies of the world. During the war, the French and
British navies collaborated on the design of ironclad floating batteries for reducing
Russian defenses which had previously held off attempts at bombardment by wooden hulled battleships. The French used theirs in 1855 against the
defenses at Kinburn on the
Black Sea. The British were delayed in bringing their batteries to the Black Sea to use against
Kronstadt in
1856 and the war ended before they were used.
In
1859,
France launched
La Gloire, the first ocean-going ironclad warship in history. Designed by the famous naval architect
Dupuy de Lôme, she was wooden hulled and covered with iron plates. The French would have gone for an iron hull but their industry was not at the time able to manage it. In the following year and nine months later than planned, the British
Royal Navy launched the iron-hulled and armored
HMS Warrior, and the
Black Prince in 1861. Although
La Gloire was developed as a
ship of the line, in effect a battleship cut to one deck due to weight considerations, the larger
Warrior was classified as an armored
frigate.
France proceeded to construct 16 ironclad warships, including two more sister ships to
La Gloire, and the only two-decked broadside ironclads ever built, the
Magenta and the
Solferino, which were also the first warships to be equipped with a spur ram. Only two of these ships were iron-hulled. In the meantime, Britain continued building large armored frigates, often as powerful and more seaworthy than the French ironclads.
The first use of steam-powered ironclads in combat was in the
American Civil War. The first of these vessels to see action in October
1861, the
CSS Manassas, was a turtleback ironclad
ram formerly known as
Enoch Train steam-tug. She was used in combat against the U.S. Navy and proved somewhat effective initially until U.S. ships learned to exploit her rather weak armor.
The first engagement of two ironclad warships was the
Battle of Hampton Roads, from March 8-9,
1862. Though the engagement was inconclusive, the Confederate ironclad
CSS Virginia and her novel Federal counterpart,
USS Monitor, became somewhat legendary, and helped to usher in a new age of armored, steam powered warships. The Virginia was built using the remains of the scuttled, wooden-hulled
USS Merrimack, and is often referred to the
Merrimack, even in her Confederate ironclad incarnation.
The
Monitor, with its rotating turret and extremely low profile, was a revolutionary design for a warship. After it had proven its capability, the U.S. built a number of "
monitor-class ships", as they became known; many seeing use as
river monitors. The use of monitor ships spread quickly throughout the world after the war.
John Ericsson, the designer of the USS
Monitor, returned to his native
Sweden and constructed similar ships for the
Swedish Navy.
Spain used ironclads against
Chilean and Peruvian ports from
1864 to 1866, destroying the fortress at El Callao (see
Battle of Callao), and the ironclad
Numancia was the first to circumnavigate the world (arriving in Cádiz on September 20 1867, and earning the motto: "Enloricata navis que primo terram circuivit"). The largest battle involving ironclads of this type was the
battle of Lissa, in
1866. Waged between the
Austro-Hungarian and
Italian navies, the battle pitted combined fleets of wooden
frigates and
corvettes and ironclad warships on both sides in the largest European naval battle since the
Battle of Trafalgar. The victory won by Austria-Hungary established it briefly as the predominant naval power in the
Mediterranean. Ironclads were also used by both
Peru and
Chile in the
War of the Pacific in
1879.
The ironclad continued to be the dominant style of warship and developed into what is sometimes called the "old"
battleship before being replaced by more advanced, far more seaworthy vessels known to history as
pre-dreadnoughts. Among the types of ironclad were
monitors (patterned after the
USS Monitor),
protected cruisers,
armored cruisers and armored
gunboats.
While the ironclad warship suffered from numerous flaws, the fact that it became the prominent naval weapon of its era and inspired nearly a century of progressively heavier armored warships can be ascribed to its massive advantage over the previous
ships of the line in terms of protection. While a ship of the line could resist some damage, it was terribly vulnerable to fire and found itself completely outclassed by the new developments in naval armament beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century. Combined with
steam engine propeller propulsion, the ironclad warship could outfight, outgun, and eventually outrun even the most powerful three decker.
The age of the ironclad as a main line battle craft came to an end around 1890, as iron- or steel-hulled
pre-dreadnought battleships were developed and deployed.
H.G. Wells featured the fictitious ironclad
Thunder Child in
The War of the Worlds and also used ironclads as the inspiration for the story
The Land Ironclads. Wells took the idea of ironclads and used it to create what were effectively proto-
tanks, years before they came to be used in actual warfare.
Clive Cussler featured an ironclad in his novel
Sahara which was made into a
movie bearing the same name.
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A reproduction of a 16th century Korean turtle ship*
The first ironclads 1859-1872, engravings*
Ironclads and Blockade Runners of the American Civil War*
Images and text on the USS Monitor*
Circular Iron-Clads in the Imperial Russian Navy
