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What are Armored Warships?
What are Armored Warships?
Armored Warships are really important in American history. The Armored Warship was first invented in 1859 by the French. The first Armored warship was called the Gloire, which had around 4.5 inch (11 cm) thick iron plates backed by heavy timber (wood). Weighing 5,617 tons (around 12 million pounds) the vessel carried 36 guns, usually eighteen 47-millimeter and four 37-millimeter Hotchkiss guns (hand cranked machine gun). The first use of Armored Warships in America would be in 1862, during the American Civil War. The first U.S. ship was called the USS Monitor, an ironclad (a plated warship) built for the U.S. Navy. We needed a way to defend our warships against aerial attacks like bombs, gunners, and long-ranged shellfire. So we added plates of armor (Iron Plates) hints to Armored Warships.
Who made them? What happened after?
Who made them? What happened after?
Armored Warships were a huge project for even a skilled team of technicians. Some big faces were John Ericsson, James Buchnana Eads, and other French Naval Engineers. John Ericsson, a Swedish-born American naval engineer, was crucial in the development of the ironclad warship Monitor for the U.S. Navy during the American Civil War. He introduced the revolving turret and screw propeller, setting a revolutionary pattern for future warships. James Buchanan Eads, an American engineer, constructed shallow draft armored gunboats for the Union during the American Civil War. These ironclads were used effectively on the Mississippi River and played a significant role in Union victories. French Naval Engineers were the pioneers in the development of ironclad warships, with the construction of Gloire in 1859, the first seagoing armored warship. This marked the transition from wooden to iron warships.
With the introduction of Armored Warships, more things have arised. One of these is the deflation in prices for iron/steel which was about 90%! For example, in the 1850’s, if a bar of iron cost $100 then it would cost around $10 in the 1890’s. This was huge for the steel industry in good and bad ways. People buy more steel but at a lower price so you're not making as much money. While people were buying steel and iron, the U.S. was using it for more ships. This caused the production of more warships and better defences, we are relying on factories to, to some extent, make our ships. If the factories went out then we would no longer have defenses in the seas.
Other Key Information
Other Key Information
Warships were an amazing idea for all countries. France, America, Britain, and some others have been impacted positively from Armored Warships. America switched almost all of their ships from wood to ironclads (iron and steel warships). France was our source of warships until America started making their own, the U.S.S. Monitor, and France began making their own as well as still selling ships to America after the alliance between the two countries on February 6th, 1778. With the production of Armored Warships, jobs increased due to the more room and reliability of the ships to carry out wars. There was a spike in manual labor and jobs but the appearance of slave labor was slowly decreasing. Although wooden warships were tended by slave labor to cook, clean, and more as Armored Warships didn't have as many slaves working. Infact, the addition of Armored Warships didn't have much of an effect on immigration even after winning multiple wars.
Photo from Library of Congress
Works Cited
Works Cited
Works Cited
Works Cited
“Ironclad | Ship | Britannica.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 2020, www.britannica.com/technology/ironclad.
naval encyclopedia. “Gloire Class Ironclads (1859).” Naval Encyclopedia, 2 Nov. 2024, naval-encyclopedia.com/industrial-era/1870-fleets/france/gloire.php. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
Sharp, Sarah. “Philadelphia in the Late 1800s: International Industrial Leader – Then and Now? | Historical Society of Pennsylvania.” Hsp.org, 2017, hsp.org/blogs/educators-blog/philadelphia-late-1800s-international-industrial-leader-%E2%80%93-then-and-now.
“The Development of Armor as Applied to Ships.” U.S. Naval Institute, 13 Dec. 1901, www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1879/december/development-armor-applied-ships. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
“U.S., France Naval Forces Conduct Bilateral Operations in Indo-Pacific.” U.S. Pacific Fleet, 2024, www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/News/Article/3875163/us-france-naval-forces-conduct-bilateral-operations-in-indo-pacific/. Accessed 5 Mar. 2025.
“U.S. Industrialization and Naval Technology before the Spanish-American War.” The Sextant, usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Recent/Article-View/Article/3425958/us-industrialization-and-naval-technology-before-the-spanish-american-war/.
“Why Is the USS Monitor Famous? : Ocean Exploration Facts: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research.” Oceanexplorer.noaa.gov, oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/monitor.html.
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