 Postcard of Couronne at anchor
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Gloire class |
| Succeeded by | Magenta class |
| Built | 1859–1862 |
| In service | 1862–1931 |
| In commission | 1862–1908 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Scrapped | 1 |
| History | |
| Name | Couronne |
| Namesake | Crown of Napoleon III |
| Ordered | 4 March 1858 |
| Builder | Arsenal de Lorient |
| Cost | 6,018,885 francs |
| Laid down | 14 February 1859 |
| Launched | 28 March 1861 |
| Commissioned | 2 February 1862 |
| Out of service | Hulked, 1 September 1909 |
| Reclassified | As gunnery training ship, 1885 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1934 |
| General characteristics (as completed) | |
| Type | Armoured frigate |
| Displacement | 6,428 t (6,326 long tons) |
| Length | 80.85 m (265 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 16.7 m (54 ft 9 in) |
| Draught | 7.8 m (25 ft 7 in) |
| Depth of hold | 9.7 m (31 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion | 1 × shaft; 1 × HRCR-steam engine |
| Sail plan | Barquentine rigged |
| Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Range | 2,410 nautical miles (4,460 km; 2,770 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 570 |
| Armament | 30 × 164.7 mm (6.5 in) rifled breech-loading guns |
| Armour |
|
The French ironclad Couronne ("Crown") was the first iron-hulled ironclad warship built for the French Navy in 1859–1862. She was the first such ship to be laid down, although the British armoured frigate HMS Warrior was completed first. The ship participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, but saw no combat. She was served as a gunnery training ship from 1885 to 1908 before she was hulked the following year and became a barracks ship in Toulon. Couronne was scrapped in 1934, over 70 years after she was completed.