Gloire-Class

Like the early British broadside ironclads, the armament of the Gloire-class ships was changed several times. The original outfit was thirty-six 165mm/17 M1858 Muzzleloading Rifles arranged with fourteen on each side of the main deck, with two pivot mounts fore and four pivot mounts aft as chase guns. The remaining two guns were fitted to the upper deck again as chase guns. These guns fired a 44.9KG shell at a muzzle velocity of 322 M/S and were wholly ineffective against armour plating, ironic given the type of ship they were fitted to. No other data regarding the armament is available. At any rate, the guns were quickly replaced. In 1863 and 1864 respectively the first two ships in the class, Gloire and Invincible were rearmed in a refit with Gloire receiving thirty-four and Invincible receiving thirty-two 165mm/15 M1860 Breechloading Rifles. Gloire’s outfit was quickly cut down by two to match her sistership. These guns were no more effective than the guns they replaced and so in 1867 and 1868 all three ships had their armament replaced. Gloire received six 240mm/18 M1864 Breechloading Rifles mounted in place of the old 164.7mm guns amidships on the main deck. She also received two 194mm/19 M1864 Breechloading Rifles in place of her chase guns on the upper deck. Invincible and Normandie received eight of the 240mm guns and six of the 194mm guns. All eight of the 240mm guns and four of the 194mm guns were mounted on the main deck amidships on the broadside, with the remaining two 194mm guns replacing the chase guns on the upper deck. Data on the performance of these guns is sadly unavailable, but reportedly inferior to similar British models.

The hull of these ships was wood with wrought iron armour plating fixed to it all along the hull. The armoured belt was 120mm tapering to 110mm at the ends. It extended 5.4 metres above the waterline and 2.0 metres below it. Ironically, this armour would’ve been too strong for her guns (as built) to penetrate at most engagement ranges. The iron plate was backed by 760mm of wood that made up the ship’s hull. The battery that protected the main gun deck was the same thickness as the belt, only with a thinner 660mm wooden backing. The ships also had an open-topped conning tower protected by 100mm of plating. The wooden upper deck also had a 10mm wrought iron underside.

None of the three ships had particularly long or distinguished careers and indeed two of the three ships were built with unseasoned timber and consequently were rotten after just ten years in service. Gloire herself lasted the longest, as she was built with seasoned timber, serving until she was stricken in 1879. All three were active during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871 but saw no action. Normandie has the distinction of being the first ironclad to cross the Atlantic when she visited Mexico in 1862 to support the French intervention. She was forced to return in April 1863, however, as an outbreak of Yellow Fever took hold that killed her captain among others of her crew. The ships were present at both British and French naval events in Portsmouth and Brest, respectively during the 1860s. During the Brest event, Invincible put on a banquet for the midshipmen of both navies and was reportedly the noisiest and most enjoyable part of the event. Invincible was sent to the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon during the Franco-Prussian War to defend the islands from Prussian commerce raiders but did not see any action. Both Normandie and Invincible were in poor condition after the war and were quickly decommissioned, being stricken from the fleet in 1871 and 1872, respectively. Notably, the engine from Normandie was later installed in the breastwork monitor Tonnerre.

The ships were in the juxtaposition of being the world’s first ironclad warships, with the lead ship Gloire having made all the warships in the world obsolete upon her completion in 1860, but in just a year she (and all of her sister ships) were made obsolete by the completion of the British Warrior-class ships, which far outclassed them in every respect. The French would soon respond, however, and a kind of arms race between the two nations developed in the years following the launching of their first ironclads, with the two competing nations developing more and more powerful ironclads in the years to follow.