List of ironclads explained
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. 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
Argentina
- Monitors
- (1874) - retired in 1927
- (1875) - retired in 1928
- Central battery ironclad
- Coastal defence ships
- (1891) - retired in 1946
- (1892) - retired in 1946
Brazil
- Central battery ironclads (or casemate)
- (1864) - retired in 1879
- (1865) - retired in 1879
- (1865) - retired in 1882
- (1866) - sunk by floating mines ('torpedoes') in the River Paraguay in 1866, during Paraguayan War
- (1865) - stricken in 1897
- (1865) - stricken in 1885
- (1866) - stricken in 1885
- (1866) - stricken in 1885
- (1874) - sunk after fire, during Fleet Revolt of 1893–94
- Monitors
- (1865) - struck in 1894
- (1867) - discarded in 1884
- (1867) - scrapped in 1907
- (1867) - scrapped in 1900
- (1868) - scrapped in 1893
- (1868) - scrapped in 1884
- (1868) - sank in 1882 at her moorings due to the poor condition of her hull
- (1874) - sunk in Battle on 22 November 1893, during Fleet Revolt of 1893–94
- (1875) - it was wrecked in 1892 near the Cabo Polonio lighthouse in Uruguay
- Ironclads turret ship
- (1865) - struck in 1894
- (1865) - struck in 1880
- (1883) - retired in 1910
- (1885) - sank after an explosion during a routine cruise in 1906
Chile
- Central battery armored frigates
- Ironclad turret ship
Haiti
- Casemate ironclad
- Triumph (1861, ex British merchant Fingal and then) - lost at sea in 1869 shortly after the purchase
Peru
- Monitors
- (1864) - unknown ending
- Atahualpa (1864, ex) - acquired in 1868 and sunk in the Blockade of Callao in 1881, during War of the Pacific
- Manco Cápac (1864, ex) - acquired in 1868 and sunk in the Battle of Arica in 1880, during War of the Pacific
- 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
- (1854/1865) - sunk in the Blockade of Callao in 1881, during War of the Pacific
United States
See main article: List of monitors of the United States Navy and List of ships of the Confederate States Navy.
Asia
China
- Coastal defence ships
- Ironclads turret ship
- (1881) - sunk in 1895 in the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
- (1882) - captured by the Japanese in 1895 after the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
Japan
- Ironclad ram
- Kōtetsu (1864, as CSS Stonewall) - acquired from the United States in 1869 and retired in 1888
- Armoured corvettes
- (1869) - retired in 1906
- (1877) - retired in 1909
- (1877) - retired in 1911
- Central battery ironclad
- (1877) - sold for scrap in 1909
- Ironclad turret ship
- (1882, ex Chinese ship Zhenyuan) - captured in 1895 during First Sino-Japanese War and retired in 1911
- Coastal defence ship
- (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
See main article: List of ironclad warships of the Ottoman Empire.
Siam
- Floating battery
- Siam Mongkut (1870) - probably discarded 1912
Europe
Austria-Hungary
See main article: List of ironclad warships of Austria-Hungary.
Denmark
- Broadside armored frigates
- (1864) - scrapped 1907
- (1850/1864) - retired in 1897
- (1864) - scrapped 1897
- 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 *
- Monitors
- (1868) - retired in 1907
- (1870) - retired in 1912
- Casemate ironclad
- Barbette ironclads
- (1878) - retired in 1907
- (1880) - retired in 1908
- (1886) - retired in 1919
France
See main article: List of ironclad warships of France.
Germany
See main article: List of ironclad warships of Germany and List of coastal defense ships of Germany.
Greece
- Central battery armored corvette
- (1867) - scrapped in 1915
- Broadside armored corvette
- (1869) - scrapped in 1925
- Barbette ironclads
- (1889) - retired in 1919
- (1889) - retired in 1929
- (1890) - sold for scrap in 1932
Italy
See main article: List of ironclad warships of Italy.
Netherlands
- Casemate ironclad
- Ironclads turret ship
- (1866) - scrapped after 1905
- (1874) - scuttled in 1942, during World War II
- Monitors
- (1868) - retired in 1973 and converted into a museum ship in 1974
- (1870) - sold for scrap in 1897
- (1868) - converted into a museum ship in 1982
- (1868) - struck in 1908
- (1868) - sold for scrapping in 1910
- (1868) - unknown
- (1868) - unknown
- (1869) - unknown
- (1869) - unknown
- (1870) - unknown
- (1870) - unknown
- (1871) - unknown
- (1871) - unknown
- (1871) - unknown
- (1876) - unknown
- (1877) - unknown
- (1878) - unknown
- (1891) - unknown
Norway
- Monitors
- (1866) - scrapped in 1908
- (1869) - scrapped in 1918
- (1868) - scrapped in 1909
- (1872) - wrecked in 1919
Portugal
- Central battery ironclad
- (1876) - broken up in 1935
Russia
See main article: List of ironclads of Russia.
Spain
- Broadside armored frigates
- (1863) - sunk by accident or sabotage in the siege of Cartagena in 1873, during Cantonal rebellion
- (1863) - retired in 1912
- (1864) - scrapped in 1883
- (1865) - retired in 1911
- Central battery armored frigates
- (1867) - stricken in 1896
- (1869) - retired in 1896
- (1861/1870) - scrapped in 1896
- Floating battery
- Monitor
- Barbette ironclad
- (1887) - scrapped in 1925
Sweden
- Monitors
- (1865) - sold in 1919
- (1865) - sold in 1922
- (1866) - sold for scrap in 1922
- (1869) - scrapped in 1908
- (1867) - sold for scrap in 1893
- (1868) - sunk as a target in 1907
- (1872) - retired in 1903
- (1872) - sold in 1919
- (1872) - retired in 1919
- (1873) - sold in 1919
- (1874) - sold in 1919
- (1874) - sold in 1919
- (1875) - sold in 1919
- (1875) - decommissioned in 1919
- Coastal defence ships
- (1885) - retired in 1941
- (1889) - retired in 1923
- (1893) - retired in 1923
United Kingdom
See main article: List of ironclads of the Royal Navy and List of breastwork monitors of the Royal Navy.
See also
Bibliography
