List of ironclads
The list of ironclads includes all steam-propelled warship and protected by iron or steel armor plates that were built in the early part of the second half of the 19th century, between 1859 and the early 1890s. The list is arranged alphabetically by country. The initial dates of the boats correspond to the launch time, followed by a separation that indicates their retirement or final date.
The list includes ironclads of two different categories or roles, oceanic and coastal. The various ironclads design such as the ram, broadside, central battery, turret and barbette will be mentioned. Some of these ocean ironclads can be classified as armored frigates, armored corvettes, or others based on their displacement. Wooden hull ships that have been subsequently armored will also be considered in this list.
Although the introduction of the ironclad is clear-cut, the boundary between 'ironclad' and the later 'pre-dreadnought battleship' is less obvious, as the characteristics of the pre-dreadnought evolved from 1875 to 1895. For the sake of this article, a line is drawn around 1890, differing from country to country.
Americas
Argentina
; Monitors'- * - retired in 1927
- * - retired in 1928
- - retired in 1932
- '
Brazil
; Central battery ironclads- - retired in 1879
- - retired in 1879
- - retired in 1882
- - sunk by floating mines in the River Paraguay in 1866, during Paraguayan War'
- * - stricken in 1897
- * - stricken in 1885
- '
- * - stricken in 1885
- * - stricken in 1885
- - sunk after fire, during Fleet Revolt of 1893–94
- - struck in 1894'
- * - discarded in 1884
- * - scrapped in 1907
- * - scrapped in 1900
- * - scrapped in 1893
- * - scrapped in 1884
- * - sank in 1882 at her moorings due to the poor condition of her hull
- '
- * - sunk in Battle on 22 November 1893, during Fleet Revolt of 1893–94
- * - it was wrecked in 1892 near the Cabo Polonio lighthouse in Uruguay
- - struck in 1894
- - struck in 1880
- - retired in 1910
- - sank after an explosion during a routine cruise in 1906
Chile
; Central battery armored frigates- * - alienated in 1933
- * - sunk in 1891 in the Battle of Caldera Bay, during Chilean Civil War of 1891
- * - captured in the Battle of Angamos in 1879 during War of the Pacific, retired in 1896 and turned into a historical relic in 1934
Haiti
; Casemate ironcladTriumph - lost at sea in 1869 shortly after the purchasePeru
; Monitors- - unknown ending
- * Atahualpa - acquired in 1868 and sunk in the Blockade of Callao in 1881, during War of the Pacific
- * Manco Cápac - acquired in 1868 and sunk in the Battle of Arica in 1880, during War of the Pacific
- - ran aground in the Battle of Punta Gruesa in 1879, during War of the Pacific
; Casemate ironclad
- - sunk in the Blockade of Callao in 1881, during War of the Pacific
United States
- Stevens Battery - ordered in 1841, but never completed.
- USS Essex - Steamship ferry New Era refitted as an ironclad in late 1861.
- USS Galena
- USS Benton
- USRC Naugatuck - operated by the United States Revenue-Marine during the American Civil War.
- USS New Ironsides
- USS Chillicothe
- USS Indianola
- USS Choctaw
- USS Carondelet
- USS Louisville
- USS Cincinnati
- USS Mound City
- USS Cairo
- USS Pittsburgh
- USS Baron DeKalb
Asia
China
; Coastal defence ships- - unknown
- - captured by the Japanese in 1895 after Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
- * - sunk in 1895 in the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
- * - captured by the Japanese in 1895 after the Battle of Weihaiwei, during First Sino-Japanese War
Japan
; Ironclad ramKōtetsu* - acquired from the United States in 1869 and retired in 1888; Armoured corvettes
- - retired in 1906
- * - retired in 1909
- * - retired in 1911
- - sold for scrap in 1909
- - captured in 1895 during First Sino-Japanese War and retired in 1911
- - captured in 1895 during First Sino-Japanese War and sunk by adverse weather causes during Russo-Japanese War
Siam
; Floating batterySiam Mongkut - probably discarded 1912Europe
Denmark
; Broadside armored frigates- - scrapped 1907
- - retired in 1897
- - scrapped 1897
- - scrapped 1907
; Monitors
- - retired in 1907
- - retired in 1912
- - retired in 1912
- - retired in 1907
- - retired in 1908
- - retired in 1919
Greece
; Central battery armored corvette- - scrapped in 1915
- - scrapped in 1925
- * - retired in 1919
- * - retired in 1929
- * - sold for scrap in 1932
Netherlands
; Casemate ironclad- - unknown
- - scrapped after 1905
- - scuttled in 1942, during World War II
- * - retired in 1973 and converted into a museum ship in 1974
- * - sold for scrap in 1897
- '
Norway
; Monitors'- * - scrapped in 1908
- * - scrapped in 1918
- '
Portugal
; Central battery ironclad- - broken up in 1935
Spain
; Broadside armored frigates- - sunk by accident or sabotage in the siege of Cartagena in 1873, during Cantonal rebellion
- - retired in 1912
- - scrapped in 1883
- - retired in 1911
- - stricken in 1896
- - retired in 1896
- - scrapped in 1896
- - retired in 1900
- - retired in 1900
- - scrapped in 1925
Sweden
; Monitors'- * - sold in 1919
- * - sold in 1922
- * - sold for scrap in 1922
- * - scrapped in 1908
- - sold for scrap in 1893
- - sunk as a target in 1907
- - retired in 1903
- '
- * - retired in 1941
- * - retired in 1923
- * - retired in 1923