French ironclad Montcalm The French ironclad " Montcalm " was a wooden - hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid - 1860s . She was named after Major General Montcalm who lost the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759 . She played a minor role in the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 where she captured one Prussian sailing ship . " Montcalm " spent most of her later career abroad , either in Chinese waters or the Pacific Ocean . The ship was condemned in 1891 . Design and description . The s were designed as improved versions of the armored corvette suitable for foreign deployments . Unlike their predecessor the " Alma " - class ships were true central battery ironclads as they were fitted with armored transverse bulkheads . Like most ironclads of their era they were equipped with a metal - reinforced ram . " Montcalm " measured between perpendiculars , with a beam of . She had a mean draft of and displaced . Her crew numbered 316 officers and men . Propulsion . The ship had a single horizontal return connecting - rod steam engine driving a single propeller . Her engine was powered by four oval boilers . On sea trials , the engine produced and the ship reached . " Montcalm " carried of coal which allowed the ship to steam for at a speed of . She was barque - rigged and had a sail area of . Armament . " Montcalm " mounted her four Modèle 1864 breech - loading guns in the central battery on the battery deck . The other two 194 - millimeter guns were mounted in barbettes on the upper deck , sponsoned out over the sides of the ship . The four guns were also mounted on the upper deck . She may have exchanged her Mle 1864 guns for Mle 1870 guns . The armor - piercing shell of the 20 - caliber Mle 1870 gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . The gun fired its shell at a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a nominal of wrought iron armour at the muzzle . The guns could fire both solid shot and explosive shells . Armor . " Montcalm " had a complete wrought iron waterline belt , approximately high . The sides of the battery itself were armored with of wrought iron and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness . The barbette armor was thick , backed by of wood . The unarmored portions of her sides were protected by iron plates . Service . " Montcalm " was laid down at Rochefort on 26 October 1865 and launched on 16 October 1868 . The ship began her sea trials on 16 June 1869 and was then sent to the Mediterranean until May 1870 . During the Franco - Prussian War , she captured the German barque " Union " in the North Sea and watched the in Portuguese waters . She cruised the North and South Atlantic before being put in reserve on 1 August 1871 at Cherbourg . Recommissioned on 20 October 1873 , she sailed for China on 5 January 1874 to relieve the armored corvette as flagship of the China Station . " Montcalm " arrived back in Cherbourg on 20 May 1876 and was reduced to reserve from 1878 to 1880 . In 1882 , she became flagship for the Pacific division under command of Rear Admiral Landolfe . Back to Cherbourg in 1884 , she remained there until 2 April 1891 when she was condemned .