The Magenta class consisted of two broadside ironclads built for the French Navy (French: Marine nationale) in the early 1860s. They were the only ironclad two-deckers ever built, and the first ironclads to feature a naval ram.
The Magenta class was designed by naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme as a reply to the low height of the 's gun ports which impaired their ability to work their guns in heavy seas. He gave the Magentas an upper spar deck which would allow them to work those guns in all weathers and caused them to be rated as ironclad ships of the line by the French Navy. They were considered to be good seaboats, although they were not very maneuverable.
was 88.6m (290.7feet) long, but her sister ship was long. They had a beam of 17.34m (56.89feet) and a draft of 8.44m (27.69feet). Magenta displaced 6965sp=usNaNsp=us while Solférino displaced . They were equipped with a metal-reinforced, spur-shaped ram.[1] The ironclads had a crew of 674 officers and enlisted men.[2]
The Magenta-class ships had a single two-cylinder horizontal-return connecting-rod compound steam engine that drove the propeller shaft,[3] using steam provided by eight boilers.[2] The engine was rated at 1,000 nominal horsepower or 3450PS and was intended to give the ships a speed in excess of 13kn.[1] During their sea trials, Solférino[3] achieved a speed of from .[2] The Magenta class carried enough coal to allow them to steam for 1840nmi at a speed of .[4] They were originally fitted with a three-masted barquentine rig that had a sail area of 1711sqm, but they were re-rigged as barques with in 1864–1865.[3] [4]
The main battery of the Magenta class consisted of sixteen 1941NaN1 Modèle 1858–60 smoothbore muzzle-loading guns, thirty-four 164.7sp=usNaNsp=us Modèle 1858–60 rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns and a pair of 225sp=usNaNsp=us RML howitzers on two gun decks. All of the 194 mm guns and ten of the 164.7 mm guns were mounted on the lower gun deck on the broadside. The remaining 164.7 mm guns and the 225 mm howitzers were positioned on the upper gun deck; the former on the broadside, but the latter were placed on pivot mounts as chase guns fore and aft.[2] [3] [4] [5] In the late 1860s all of the guns on the lower gun deck were removed and their armament was changed to four 2401NaN1 RMLs and eight 194 mm smoothbores, two each of the latter fore and aft as chase guns on the upper gun deck. Their final armament consisted of ten 240 mm Modèle 1864–66 guns and four 194 mm guns as chase guns fore and aft.[2] [3]
The Magentas had a full-length waterline belt that consisted of wrought-iron plates thick. Above the belt both gun decks were protected with of armor, but the ends of the ships were unprotected.[1]
| Ship | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal de Brest | 22 June 1859 | 22 June 1861 | 2 January 1863 | Exploded, 31 October 1875[6] | ||
| Arsenal de Lorient | 24 June 1859 | 24 June 1861 | 25 August 1862 | Condemned, 21 July 1882 |