Palestro-class ironclad floating battery

Summary

The Palestro-class ironclad floating batteries were four floating batteries built for the French Navy in 1859–1862 to replace the Crimean War-built vessels because of fears that the 1855 ships would deteriorate because they had been built hurriedly with poor wood.

Paixhans (right) in 1862
Class overview
NamePalestro class
Operators French Navy
Preceded byDévastation class
Succeeded byEmbuscade class
Built1859–1862
In service1862–1871
Completed4
Scrapped4
General characteristics
TypeIronclad floating battery
Displacement1,560 t (1,540 long tons)
Length47.5 m (155 ft 10 in)
Beam14.04 m (46 ft 1 in)
Draft3 m (9.8 ft) (mean)
Installed power580 ihp (430 kW)
PropulsionTwin screw, FCM steam engine
Speed7.5 knots (13.9 km/h; 8.6 mph)
Complement212
Armament
  • 12 × 160 mm (6.3 in) guns
  • later 2 of the 160 mm guns were replaced by 1 × 40 mm (1.6 in) gun
ArmorHull: 120 mm (4.7 in)
Name Built at Laid down Launched
Palestro Arman, Bordeaux 1859 August 1862
Pei-ho Arman, Bordeaux 1859 September 1862
Saigon Arman, Bordeaux 1859 September 1862
Paixhans Arman, Bordeaux 1859 September 1862

References edit

Bibliography
  • de Balincourt, Captain; Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain (1973). "French Floating Batteries". F.P.D.S. Newsletter. I (2). Akron, OH: F.P.D.S.: 13–20. OCLC 41554533.
  • Caruana, J.; Koehler, R. B. (1996). "Question 7/95: French Ironclad Floating Batteries". Warship International. XXXIII (4). Toledo, Ohio: International Naval Research Organization: 416–18. ISSN 0043-0374.
  • Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-8317-0302-4.