HMS Warrior is a 40-gun steam-powered armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy in 1859–1861. She was the name ship of the Warrior-class ironclads. Warrior and her sister ship HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warships, and were built in response to France's launching in 1859 of the first ocean-going ironclad warship, the wooden-hulled Gloire. Warrior conducted a publicity tour of Great Britain in 1863 and spent her active career with the Channel Squadron. Obsolescent following the 1873 commissioning of the mastless and more capable HMS Devastation, she was placed in reserve in 1875, and was "paid off" – decommissioned – in 1883.
She subsequently served as a storeship and depot ship, and in 1904 was assigned to the Royal Navy's torpedo training school. The ship was converted into an oil jetty in 1927 and remained in that role until 1979, at which point she was donated by the Navy to the Maritime Trust for restoration. The restoration process took eight years, during which many of her features and fittings were either restored or recreated. When this was finished she returned to Portsmouth as a museum ship. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Warrior has been based in Portsmouth since 1987.
1860Dec, 29
The launch of HMS Warrior, with her combination of screw propeller, iron hull and iron armour, renders all previous warships obsolete.
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Events on 1860
- 27May
Italian unification
Giuseppe Garibaldi begins his attack on Palermo, Sicily, as part of the Italian unification. - 7Sep
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Italian unification: Giuseppe Garibaldi enters Naples. - 20Sep
Edward VII of the United Kingdom
The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) visits Canada and the United States. - 8Oct
San Francisco
Telegraph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco opens. - 26Oct
Giuseppe Garibaldi
Meeting of Teano. Giuseppe Garibaldi, conqueror of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, gives it to King Victor Emmanuel II of Italy.