French ironclad Belliqueuse The French ironclad " Belliqueuse " ( " Bellicose " ) was a wooden - hulled , armored corvette , built for the French Navy in the 1860s and designed as a cheap ironclad . She was the first French ironclad to sail around the world , which she did between December 1867 and May 1869 . She spent the bulk of her career in the Pacific before returning to Toulon , where she was used as a target in 1886 . Design and description . " Belliqueuse " was designed as a small and cheap ironclad suitable for foreign deployments . Her armament and armor was concentrated in the middle of the ship like a central battery ironclad , but unlike those ships she lacked armored transverse bulkheads and was very vulnerable to raking fire . Like most ironclads of her era she was equipped with a bronze ram ; hers weighed . " Belliqueuse " measured at the waterline and between perpendiculars , with a beam of . She had a draft of and displaced . Propulsion . The ship had a single horizontal return connecting - rod steam engine driving a single propeller . Her engine was powered by four oval boilers . The engine produced a total of and gave a top speed of . On sea trials the engine produced and the ship reached . " Belliqueuse " carried of coal which allowed the ship to steam for at a speed of . " Belliqueuse " was barque - rigged ; initially she had a sail area of , but this was later increased to in 1869 . Armament . " Belliqueuse " mounted her four Modèle 1864 guns in the central battery on the battery deck along with four of her six Modèle 1864 guns . The other two 164 mm guns were carried on pivot mounts fore and aft on the upper deck . She was partially rearmed in 1870 and exchanged her 164 - mm pivot guns for a pair of Modèle 1870 guns . In addition four Hotchkiss 5 - barrel revolving guns each were added . 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 . Armor . " Belliqueuse " was completely armored with of wrought iron from the battery deck down to below the waterline . The sides of the battery itself were protected with of armor , but the ends were closed only by light screens . Fore and aft of the battery , her sides were unprotected . Service . " Belliqueuse " was laid down at Toulon in September 1863 , and launched on 6 September 1865 . The ship began her sea trials on 30 December 1865 , but did not enter service until 30 October 1866 . That day she was commissioned as the flagship of the Pacific Station under command of Rear Admiral Penhoat . On 22 December 1867 , the ship departed Toulon in an attempt to circumnavigate the world . " Belliqueuse " arrived at Brest on 26 May 1869 after 396 days at sea , the first French ironclad to do so . On 15 November 1869 she hoisted the flag of Rear Admiral Chevalier as commander of the Levant Squadron . During 1870 she was transferred to New Caledonia as flagship of the Western Pacific Division ( ) , but returned to Toulon on 5 June 1871 after the death of Rear Admiral Chevalier . In 1872 the ship was sent to the China Station and relieved as flagship of the station on 1 October 1872 . She returned to Toulon on 3 May 1874 . " Belliqueuse " served with the Evolutionary Squadron for six months from 5 June 1877 and was reduced to reserve afterwards . She was paid off on 15 November 1884 and struck off the Navy List on 3 May 1886 . " Belliqueuse " was used as a target afterwards .