The French ironclad Gloire (French pronunciation: [ɡlwaʁ], "Glory") was the first ocean-going ironclad, launched in 1859. She was developed after the Crimean War, in response to new developments of naval gun technology, especially the Paixhans guns and rifled guns, which used explosive shells with increased destructive power against wooden ships. Her design was also influenced by the Anglo-French development of ironclad floating batteries to bombard Russian forts during the same war.
== Design and construction == Gloire was designed by the French naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme as a 5,630-ton broadside ironclad with a wooden hull. He had intended for her class, the Gloire-class ironclads, to be fully iron hulled, and with this in mind Dupuy had cancelled all French Navy wooden hulled construction projects. Issues with obtaining enough iron meant that Dupuy compromised; Gloire and her first two sisters were built with wooden hulls lined with wrought iron plates. Gloire was ordered on 4 March 1858 and laid down in the same month. Her 12 cm-thick (4.7 in) armour plates, backed with 43 cm (17 in) of timber, resisted hits by the experimental shooting of the strongest guns of the time (the French 50-pounder and the British 68-pounder) at full charge, at a distance of 20 metres (65 ft). Gloire's maximum speed was 13.1 knots but other reports suggested no more than 11.75 knots had been attained and that 11 knots was the practical maximum. French planning envisaged her being able to chase the British Channel Fleet out of the English Channel with her speed. As was common for the era, Gloire was constructed with sails as well as a steam-powered screw. The original rigging was a light barquentine rig providing 1,096 sq. m (11,800 sq. ft) of surface area. This was later increased to a full rig providing 2,508 sq. m (27,000 sq. ft) of surface. Reports regarding the construction of Gloire reached France's British rivals in May 1858. A public outcry fomented by the newspapers led the Surveyor of the Navy to announce a need to match the new French design; "France has now commenced to build frigates of great speed with their sides protected by thick metal plates, and this renders it imperative for this country to do the same without a moment's delay". This led to the construction of the armoured frigate HMS Warrior. Gloire was launched on 24 November 1859 and completed for service in August 1860.
Service
Gloire was launched at the arsenal of Mourillon, Toulon, on 24 November 1859; and entered service in August 1860. She was struck off the French naval register in 1879, and scrapped in 1883. The ship underwent preliminary trials in June 1860 with official trials on 20-21 of August, where she achieved 13.5 knots. In September of that year, she escorted the imperial yacht Aigle carrying Emperor Napoleon III to Algiers. During a storm on the return voyage, the Gloire was the sole escort able to remain with the Aigle. On 12 November, Gloire began comparative trials with the Algésiras, culminating in a trial report on 30 March 1861.
== Importance in naval history == As the first ocean-going ironclad, Gloire rendered obsolete traditional unarmoured wooden ships-of-the-line, and all major navies soon began to build ironclads of their own.
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Bibliography
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