French ironclad floating battery Palestro
Palestro was the name ship of her class of ironclad floating batteries built for the French Navy after the Crimean War of 1854–1855. Completed in 1863, she was immediately placed in reserve although she was briefly commissioned during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.
Design and development
In contrast to the Dévastation class, the Palestros were intended to serve as coastal-defense ships and were designed to have greater mobility and seaworthiness than the older ships. They were also reduced in size to minimize their profile. The ships had an overall length of, a beam of and a draft of. They displaced. The Palestro class was powered by a pair of high-pressure direct-acting steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. The engine was rated at. The ships were designed to reach, but some were slightly faster. They were fitted with two masts using a schooner rig. The ship's complement numbered 200 sailors of all ranks.The Palestros carried a main battery of a dozen Mle 1860 30 pdr guns guns on the main deck. The ships were protected by a full-length waterline belt of wrought iron that was thick. Protection for the gun battery was thick. At some point, the Mle 1860 guns were replaced by Mle 1864 rifled breech-loading guns and then reduced in number to 10 guns.