Solférino was the second and last ship of the Magenta-class ironclad of broadside ironclads built for the French Navy (Marine nationale) in the early 1860s. 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 long, had a beam of 17.34 m, and a draft of 8.44 m. The ship displaced 6796 t. The Magentas were equipped with a metal-reinforced, spur-shaped ram, the first ironclads to be fitted with a ram, and they had a crew of 674 officers and enlisted men. The Magenta-class ships had a single two-cylinder horizontal-return connecting-rod compound steam engine that drove the propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight boilers. The engine was rated at 1,000 nominal horsepower or 3450 PS and was intended to give the ships a speed in excess of 13 kn. During their sea trials, Solférino achieved a speed of 12.88 kn from 4012 PS. The Magenta class carried enough coal to allow them to steam for 1840 nmi at a speed of 10 kn. They were originally fitted with a three-masted barquentine rig that had a sail area of 1711 sqm, but they were re-rigged as barques with 1960 sqm in 1864–1865.

Armament and protection

The main battery of the Magenta class consisted of sixteen 194 mm Modèle 1858–60 smoothbore muzzle-loading guns, thirty-four 164.7 mm Modèle 1858–60 rifled muzzle-loading (RML) guns and a pair of 225 mm 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. In the late 1860s all of the guns on the lower gun deck were removed and their armament was changed to four 240 mm 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. The Magentas had a full-length waterline belt that consisted of wrought-iron plates 120 mm thick. Above the belt both gun decks were protected with 109 mm of armor, but the ends of the ships were unprotected.

Construction and service

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

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