French ironclad Solférino

Solférino was the second and last ship of the Magenta-class of broadside ironclads built for the French Navy (Marine nationale) in the early 1860s.

Solférino in Cherbourg, France, c. 1863–1864
History
France
Name: Solférino
Namesake: Battle of Solferino
Builder: Arsenal de Lorient
Laid down: 24 June 1859
Launched: 24 June 1861
Commissioned: 25 August 1862
Decommissioned: August 1878
Fate: Condemned, 21 July 1882
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type: Magenta-class ironclad
Displacement: 6,796 t (6,689 long tons)
Length: 85.51 m (280 ft 7 in)
Beam: 17.34 m (56 ft 11 in)
Draft: 8.44 m (27 ft 8 in)
Installed power:
Propulsion: 1 shaft, 1 horizontal-return connecting rod-steam engine
Sail plan: Barquentine-rig
Speed: 12.88 knots (23.85 km/h; 14.82 mph) (trials)
Range: 1,840 nautical miles (3,410 km; 2,120 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement: 674
Armament:
Armor:
  • Belt: 120 mm (4.7 in)
  • Battery: 109–120 mm (4.3–4.7 in)

These two ironclads were the only two-decked broadside ironclad battleships ever built. They were also the first ships in the world to be equipped with a spur ram.

Design and description

The Magenta class were two-decked ironclad ships of the line, much as the preceding Gloire-class ironclad were armored versions of traditional frigates. Solférino was 85.51 m (280 ft 7 in) long, had a beam of 17.34 meters (56 ft 11 in), and a draft of 8.44 meters (27 ft 8 in). The ship displaced 6,796 t (6,689 long tons).[1] The Magentas were equipped with a metal-reinforced, spur-shaped ram, the first ironclads to be fitted with a ram,[2] and they had a crew of 674 officers and enlisted men.[1]

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.[1][4] The engine was rated at 1,000 nominal horsepower or 3,450 metric horsepower (2,540 kW) and was intended to give the ships a speed in excess of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).[2] During their sea trials, Solférino[3] achieved a speed of 12.88 knots (23.85 km/h; 14.82 mph) from 4,012 metric horsepower (2,951 kW).[1] The Magenta class carried enough coal to allow them to steam for 1,840 nautical miles (3,410 km; 2,120 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[4] They were originally fitted with a three-masted barquentine rig that had a sail area of 1,711 square meters (18,420 sq ft), but they were re-rigged as barques with 1,960 m2 (21,100 sq ft) in 1864–1865.[3][4]

Armament and protection

The main battery of the Magenta class consisted of sixteen 194-millimeter (7.6 in) Modèle 1858–60 smoothbore muzzle-loading guns, thirty-four 164.7-millimeter (6.5 in) Modèle 1858–60 rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns and a pair of 225-millimeter (8.9 in) 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.[1][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 240-millimeter (9.4 in) 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.[1][3]

The Magentas had a full-length waterline belt that consisted of wrought-iron plates 120 mm (4.7 in) thick. Above the belt both gun decks were protected with 109 mm (4.3 in) of armor, but the ends of the ships were unprotected.[2]

Construction and service

Solférino, named after the French victory in the Battle of Solferino,[6] was laid down on 24 June 1859 by the Arsenal de Lorient, launched on 24 June 1861 and commissioned on 25 August 1862.[1]

Citations
  1. Gille, p. 24
  2. Campbell, p. 287
  3. de Balincourt & Vincent-Bréchignac, p. 25
  4. Silverstone, p. 62
  5. Konstam, p. 19
  6. Silverstone, p. 112

Bibliography
  • de Balincourt, Captain & Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1974). "The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates, Part I". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. II (2): 18. OCLC 41554533.
  • de Balincourt, Captain & Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1974). "The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates, Pt. II". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. II (3): 23–25. OCLC 41554533.
  • Campbell, N. J. M. (1979). "France". In Chesneau, Roger & Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich, UK: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 282–333. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.
  • Gille, Eric (1999). Cent ans de cuirassés français [A Century of French Battleships] (in French). Nantes: Marines. ISBN 2-909-675-50-5.
  • Jones, Colin (1996). "Entente Cordiale, 1865". In McLean, David & Preston, Antony (eds.). Warship 1996. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-685-X.
  • Konstam, Angus (2019). European Ironclads 1860–75: The Gloire Sparks the Great Ironclad Arms Race. Oxford, UK: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-47282-676-3.
  • Roche, Jean-Michel (2005). Dictionnaire des bâtiments de la flotte de guerre française de Colbert à nos jours, 1671 – 1870. Group Retozel-Maury Millau. ISBN 978-2-9525917-0-6. OCLC 165892922.
  • Silverstone, Paul H. (1984). Directory of the World's Capital Ships. New York: Hippocrene Books. ISBN 0-88254-979-0.
  • Wilson, H. W. (1896). Ironclads in Action: A Sketch of Naval Warfare From 1855 to 1895. 1 and 2. Boston: Little, Brown.
  • Winfield, Rif & Roberts, Stephen S. (2015). French Warships in the Age of Sail, 1786–1861. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-204-2.
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