French ironclad Armide

The {{sclass|Alma|ironclad}}sIronclad is the all-encompassing term for armored warships of this period. Armored corvettes were originally designed for the same role as traditional wooden corvettes, but this rapidly changed as the size and expense of these ships caused them to be used as second-class armored ships. were designed as improved versions of the armored corvette {{ship|French ironclad|Belliqueuse||2}} suitable for foreign deployments. Unlike their predecessor the Alma-class ships were true central battery ironclads as they were fitted with armored transverse bulkheads.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 26 Like most ironclads of their era they were equipped with a metal-reinforced ram.Gardiner, p. 302

Armide measured {{convert|68.9|m|ftin|sp=us}} between perpendiculars, with a beam of {{convert|14.06|m|ftin|sp=us}}. She had a mean draft of {{convert|6.43|m|ftin|sp=us}} and displaced {{convert|3692|t|LT|sp=us|lk=on}}. Her crew numbered 316 officers and men.

The ship had a single horizontal three-cylinder return connecting-rod steam engine driving a single four-bladed propeller. Her engine was powered by four Creusot oval boilers.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 28 On sea trials the engine produced {{convert|1585|ihp|lk=in}} and the ship reached {{convert|10.48|kn}}. Armide carried {{convert|250|MT|LT}} of coal which allowed the ship to steam for {{convert|1310|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|10|kn}}. She was barque-rigged and had a sail area of {{convert|1454|sqm|sqft|sp=us}}.

Armide mounted her four {{convert|194|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} Modèle 1864 breech-loading guns in the central battery on the battery deck. The other two 194 mm guns were mounted in barbettes on the upper deck, sponsoned out over the sides of the ship. The four {{convert|120|mm|in|adj=on|sp=us}} guns were also mounted on the upper deck. She may have exchanged her Mle 1864 guns for Mle 1870 guns. The armor-piercing shell of the 20-caliber Mle 1870 gun weighed {{convert|165.3|lb|kg|0}} while the gun itself weighed {{convert|7.83|LT|t}}. The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of {{convert|1739|ft/s|m/s|abbr=on}} and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal {{convert|12.5|in}} of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells.Brassey, p. 477

Armide had a complete {{convert|150|mm|in|sp=us|1|adj=on}} wrought iron waterline belt, approximately {{convert|2.4|m|ft|sp=us|1}} high. The sides of the battery itself were armored with {{convert|120|mm|in|sp=us|1}} of wrought iron and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness. The barbette armor was {{convert|100|mm|in|sp=us}} thick, backed by {{convert|240|mm|in|sp=us}} of wood.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 27 The unarmored portions of her sides were protected by {{convert|15|mm|in|adj=on|1|sp=us}} iron plates.

Armide was laid down at Rochefort in 1865 and launched on 12 April 1867. The ship began her sea trials on 5 October 1867 and was put into reserve at Brest immediately after her completion. She was commissioned on 20 July 1870 to serve with the Baltic Squadron during the Franco-Prussian War.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1976, p. 29 The squadron was ordered to lift its blockade of the Prussian Baltic ports on 16 September and return to Cherbourg.de Balincourt and Vincent-Bréchignac 1975, p. 30 Armide was decommissioned on 1 November, but was recommissioned on 12 January 1871 to blockade the Prussian corvette {{SMS|Arcona|1858|6}} in Lisbon for the duration of the war. Afterward she was transferred to the Mediterranean where she remained until 1873.

Armide was decommissioned on 28 October 1873 at Toulon and had her armament reduced to six guns. She was recommissioned as the flagship of the Levant Squadron on 25 August 1874. On 19 September 1875 Armide was in Algiers.{{cite journal|title=The European Squadron: Report of Admiral Worden of his Cruise in the Franklin from Southampton to Villa Franca—The Harbor of Carthagena|journal=New York Times|date=2 November 1875 |location=New York|issue=2 November 1875|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=980CE1D8133BEF34BC4A53DFB767838E669FDE}} The ship was reduced to reserve in December 1875 at Brest. She was recommissioned in 1877 as the flagship of the China Squadron under Rear Admiral Duburquois and departed Brest on 17 January 1878. She was relieved by her sister {{ship|French ironclad|Thétis||2}} on 22 January 1880 at Singapore. She was decommissioned at Toulon on 17 March 1880 and condemned on 25 October 1882. Armide was used in gunnery trials in March 1886 and filled with watertight barrels to keep her from sinking. She was set adrift and fired at by a group of French ironclads at ranges up to {{convert|5000|m|yd|-2|sp=us}}; she was towed back to port to examine the effects of the shells.{{cite journal|date=July 1886|title=Ordnance and Naval|journal=Van Nostrand's Engineering Magazine|publisher=D. Van Nostrand|location=New York|volume=35|issue=CCXI|page=347|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vf4SAAAAYAAJ&q=ironclad%20armide&pg=PA347}}

{{Reflist|group=Note}}

{{Reflist|2}}

• {{cite book|last=Brassey|first=Thomas|authorlink=Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey|title=The Naval Annual 1887|url=https://archive.org/details/brasseysannual00brasgoog|year=1888|publisher=J. Griffin|location=Portsmouth, England}}
• {{cite journal|last=de Balincourt|first=Captain|author2=Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain|year=1976|title=The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Corvettes|journal=F.P.D.S. Newsletter|publisher=F.P.D.S.|location=Akron, OH|volume=IV|issue=4|pages=26–32 |oclc=41554533}}
• {{cite journal|last=de Balincourt|first=Captain|author2=Vincent-Bréchignac, Captain|year=1975|title=The French Navy of Yesterday: Ironclad Frigates|journal=F.P.D.S. Newsletter|publisher=F.P.D.S.|location=Akron, OH|volume=III|issue=4|pages=26–30 |oclc=41554533}}
• {{cite book|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905|editor=Gardiner, Robert|publisher=Conway Maritime Press|location=Greenwich|year=1979|isbn=0-8317-0302-4|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/conwaysallworlds0000unse_l2e2}}
• {{cite book

|last=Roberts

|first=Stephen

|title=French Warships in the Age of Steam 1859–1914

|year=2021

|location=Barnsley

|publisher=Seaforth

|isbn=978-1-5267-4533-0

|ref={{sfnref|Roberts}}

}}

{{Alma class ironclad}}

{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armide}}

Category:Ships built in France

Category:Alma-class ironclads

Category:1867 ships