Palestro-class ironclad floating battery
The Palestro class consisted of four ironclad floating batteries built for the French Navy in 1859–1862 to replace the Crimean War-built Dévastation class because of fears that the 1855 ships would deteriorate because they had been hastily built with green wood that was prone to rot quickly. caught fire and sank in 1863, but was salvaged and repaired. was struck from the navy list in 1869, but the others were 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 by the naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme 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 fore-and-aft rig.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. The ship's complement numbered 200 sailors of all ranks.