La Galissonnière - class ironclad The " La Galissonnière " class ironclads were a group of wooden - hulled , armored corvette s built for the French Navy during the 1870s , meant as a heavier armed and faster version of the . While all three ships were begun before the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 – 71 , the construction of the last two ships was delayed for years . The navy took advantage of the extended construction time of the latter ships to upgrade their armament . bombarded Sfax in 1881 as part of the French occupation of Tunisia . She and her half - sister participated in a number of battles during the Sino - French War of 1884 – 85 . Their sister had a much quieter career . All three ships were decommissioned in the 1890s . Design and description . The " La Galissonnière " - class ironclad s were designed as faster , more heavily armed versions of the s by Henri Dupuy de Lôme . They used the same central battery layout as their predecessors , although the battery was lengthened to provide enough room to work the larger guns . A two - propeller layout was adopted in an unsuccessful attempt to reduce the ship ' s draft . The two later ships were designed by Sabattier who reduced the number of screws from two to one to improve their sailing qualities , added an bow chaser under the forecastle and increased the caliber of the secondary armament . " La Galissonnière " measured between perpendiculars , with a beam of . She had a mean draft of and displaced . The ship had a metacentric height of . " Victorieuse " and " Triomphante " were between perpendiculars and had a beam of . The two ships had a mean draft of and displaced . The crew of all three ships numbered between 352 and 382 officers and men . Propulsion . " La Galissonnière " had two Wolf vertical compound steam engines , each driving a single propeller . Her engines were powered by four oval boilers . On sea trials the engines produced a total of and the ship reached . " La Galissonnière " carried of coal which allowed the ship to steam for at a speed of . She was ship - rigged with three masts and had a sail area around . " Victorieuse " and " Triomphante " had a single vertical compound steam engine driving a single propeller and the same boilers as " La Galissonnière " . During trials their engines produced and the ships reached . They only carried of coal which allowed the ships to steam for at a speed of . They were also ship - rigged with three masts , but had a sail area of . Armament . All three ships mounted four of their six 240 - millimeter Modèle 1870 guns in the central battery on the battery deck . The other two 240 - millimeter guns were mounted in barbette s on the upper deck , sponsoned out over the sides of the ship . In " La Galissonnière " the sponsons were positioned abaft the funnel , but the two later ships had theirs just forward of the funnel . " La Galissonnière " s secondary armament of four guns was also mounted on the upper deck . They were replaced by six guns in 1880 . The armor - piercing shell of the 19 - caliber 240 - millmeter gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . It had 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 . The ship received four Hotchkiss 5 - barrel revolving guns in 1878 . They fired a shell weighing about at a muzzle velocity of about to a range of about . They had a rate of fire of about 30 rounds per minute . " La Galissonnière " also received several towed Harvey torpedoes . While " Victorieuse " and " Triomphant " were on the stocks , their armament was reinforced by an additional 194 - millimeter chase gun and the secondary armament was increased to six guns . They also received the Hotchkiss guns and Harvey torpedoes as per " La Galissonnière " before completion . The 20 - caliber 194 - millimeter gun fired an armor - piercing , shell 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 138 - millimeter gun was 21 calibers long and weighed . It fired a explosive shell that had a muzzle velocity of . Armor . The " La Galissonnière " - class ships had a complete wrought iron waterline belt , approximately high laid over of wood . The sides of the battery itself were armored with of wrought iron backed by of wood and the ends of the battery were closed by bulkheads of the same thickness . The barbette armor was thick . The unarmored portions of their sides were protected by thin iron plates . Service . " La Galissonnière " s initial commissions were in the Pacific and in the Caribbean , but she was assigned to the Levant Squadron ( ) when she bombarded the Tunisian port of Sfax in July 1881 as part of the French occupation of Tunisia . In early 1882 " La Galissonnière " was the flagship of the Levant Squadron under Rear Admiral Alfred Conrad . Both " La Galissonnière " and " Triomphante " were assigned to the Far East Squadron in 1884 , under the command of Vice Admiral Amédée Courbet , and participated in several actions during the Sino - French War of 1884 – 85 . Both ships fought in the Battle of Fuzhou , destroying a small Chinese fleet and coastal defenses defending the Min River . They supplied landing parties during the Battle of Tamsui in October 1884 , but they were forced to retreat by Chinese troops , although suffering few casualties ( 11 killed and 4 wounded between the two ships ) . Nothing is known of any further participation by " La Galissonnière " in the war , but " Triomphante " helped to capture the Pescadore Islands in March 1885 during the Pescadores Campaign . " Victorieuse " was placed into reserve after she finished her sea trials in 1876 . She had two commissions as flagship of the Pacific and China Squadrons and was relieved as the flagship of the latter by " La Galissonnière " in April 1884 . She became flagship of the Levant Squadron after she arrived in France , but was in bad shape and soon placed in reserve at Cherbourg . " Victorieuse " was on summer maneuvers off the Iberia n coast in July 1893 . The ship was initially condemned in May 1897 , but this was reversed so she could convoy torpedo boat s to Bizerte . That plan was later cancelled and " Victorieuse " was paid off in 1899 , becoming guardship of the outer harbor at Brest until finally condemned the following year .