Knowra Ironclad warship Ironclad warship An ironclad warship is protected by iron or steel armor against artillery fire. It emerged in the mid-19th century and displaced wooden ships in naval combat.
Naval armor : Protective plating fitted to warships to resist guns, shells, or torpedoes. Iron and steel plating was the defining protection that distinguished ironclads from wooden warships.
La Gloire : A French ocean-going ironclad launched in 1859, designed by Henri Dupuy de Lôme. Its launch prompted Britain to build an armored answer and accelerated the naval arms race.
Battle of Hampton Roads : A March 1862 naval battle between the ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia. The duel showed that armored ships could fight wooden fleets to a standstill.
Pre-dreadnought battleship : A battleship type developed before HMS Dreadnought, typically combining heavy and medium-caliber guns. It represents the mature battleship form descended from the ironclad.
Monitor (warship type) : A low-freeboard warship, usually turret-armed, designed chiefly for coastal or river service. Monitors were one specialized ironclad form, unlike ocean-going broadside ships.
Naval artillery : Shipboard guns designed to attack vessels, shore targets, or aircraft. Ironclad armor developed in response to increasingly powerful naval guns.
HMS Warrior : A British iron-hulled, armored frigate launched in 1860. Warrior demonstrated Britain’s response to France’s La Gloire with a larger iron hull and powerful guns.
USS Monitor : A Union ironclad warship launched in 1862, notable for its rotating gun turret and low profile. Its design became a model for turreted coastal warships.
Dreadnought : A British battleship launched in 1906 that introduced an all-big-gun design and turbine propulsion. Its design marked a further break from the mixed batteries of earlier armored warships.
Floating battery : A self-propelled or towed armored vessel designed primarily to bombard coastal targets. Floating batteries preceded ocean-going ironclads but were generally slow and limited in range.
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