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 1893âÂÂ94
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 1893âÂÂ94
- (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
City-class ironclads
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
- KÃ
Âtetsu* (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
Siam
Floating battery
- Siam Mongkut (1870) - probably discarded 1912
Europe
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
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
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 (in Portugal was considered a battleship)
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 also
Notes
References
Bibliography