| − | An '''Ironclad''' is the name given to the first armor plated fighting ships. The introduction of the ironclads would soon make earlier wooden fighting vessels obselete. | + | An '''Ironclad''' is the name given to the first armor plated fighting ships. The introduction of the ironclads would soon make earlier wooden fighting vessels obsolete. |
| − | The first battle between ironclad ships took place during the [[American Civil War]] between the [[USS Merrimack]] and the [[USS Monitor]]. Neither ship was able to seriously damage the other. | + | At the Battle of Sinope in 1853 a squadron of [[Turkish]] frigates was completely destroyed by [[Russian]] shellfire which - apart from being one of the immediate causes of the [[Crimean War]] - had every major navy in the world scurrying to build armor-plated ships, or cover their wooden-hulled vessels with iron. The first true ironclad was the [[French]] "La Gloire" in 1859. The [[British]] followed the next year with the first all-iron warship, HMS "Warrior". "Ironclad" became the generic description for such vessels until "Dreadnought" replaced it in 1906. |