French ironclad Atalante The French ironclad " Atalante " was a wooden - hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid - 1860s . She played a minor role in the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 , bombarded Vietnamese forts during the Battle of Thuan An in 1884 and participated in the Sino - French War of 1884 – 85 . " Atalante " was reduced to reserve in Saigon in 1885 and sank there two years later after having been condemned . 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 . " Atalante " 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 . " Atalante " 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 . " Atalante " 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 . " Atalante " 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 . " Atalante " was laid down at Cherbourg in June 1865 and launched on 12 April 1867 . Her sea trials began on 1 April 1869 and she joined the reserve at Brest on 11 July 1869 . " Atalante " was commissioned on 23 February 1870 and was initially assigned to the Evolutionary Squadron before transferring to the Northern Squadron in July 1870 at the outbreak of the Franco - Prussian War . The squadron was ordered to lift its blockade of the Prussian North Sea ports on 16 September and return to Cherbourg . " Atalante " went back into reserve in November 1870 , but she was recommissioned the following year . She was named as the flagship of the Pacific Squadron on 1 July 1872 under command of Rear Admiral Baron Roussin . On 14 August " Atalante " sailed from Lorient for the Pacific and did not return until 27 February 1874 . She was placed into reserve upon her arrival , but was recommissioned on 28 December 1875 as the flagship of the China Squadron under Rear Admiral Veron . She departed Lorient on 10 January 1876 , but returned on 16 May 1878 . The ship spent the next four years in reserve before being recommissioned on 3 July 1882 for service with the Cochinchina Division ( ) . " Atalante " was transferred to the new Tonkin Coast Division ( ) when it was formed in 1883 . During 18 – 21 August 1883 she participated in the Battle of Thuan An . This was an attack by the French on the forts defending the mouth of the Perfume River , leading to the Vietnamese capital of Huế in an attempt to intimidate the Vietnamese government . " Atalante " was assigned to bombard the North Fort by the French commander , Vice Admiral Amédée Courbet . After two days of bombardment a landing party from the ship captured the fort . Ensign ( ) Louis - Marie - Julien Viaud , who was aboard the " Atalante " during the battle and participated in the landing , wrote several articles graphically describing his experiences that were published in the newspaper Le Figaro under the pen - name of Pierre Loti . The ship was assigned to the Far East Squadron ( ) under Admiral Courbet when it was formed by the amalgamation of the Tonkin Coast and Far Eastern Divisions in June 1884 in preparation for the Sino - French War of 1884 – 85 . In early September 1884 " Atalante " was in Huế , but she carried Admiral Courbet to Keelung on 23 September . The ship was paid off into reserve in Saigon in 1885 and condemned two years later . She fell into such a state of disrepair that " she foundered one night and gradually sank into the mud . "