French ironclad Jeanne d ' Arc The French ironclad " Jeanne d ' Arc " was a wooden - hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the late 1860s . She was named for Joan of Arc , a Roman Catholic saint and heroine of the Hundred Years War . " Jeanne d ' Arc " participated in the Franco - Prussian War of 1870 – 71 and remained in commission afterwards , unlike many of her sisters . The ship was condemned in 1883 , but nothing further is known as to her disposition . 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 . " Jeanne d ' Arc " 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 . Unlike all of her sisters except , she had two funnels , mounted side - by - side . " Jeanne d ' Arc " 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 . " Jeanne d ' Arc " mounted four of her 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 . " Jeanne d ' Arc " 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 . " Jeanne d ' Arc " was laid down at Cherbourg in 1865 and launched on 28 September 1867 . The ship began her sea trials on 9 March 1868 and was put into reserve at Brest in 1869 . She was commissioned on 12 April 1870 , shortly before the Franco - Prussian War began , and assigned to the Northern Squadron . On 24 July 1870 she departed Cherbourg in company with the rest of the Northern Squadron and they cruised off the Danish port of Frederikshavn between 28 July and 2 August until they entered the Baltic Sea . The squadron , now renamed the Baltic Squadron , remained in the Baltic , attempting to blockade Prussian ports on the Baltic until ordered to return to Cherbourg on 16 September . On 1 August 1873 " Jeanne d ' Arc " was in Malaga , Spain and departed later that day bound for Cadiz . In 1875 she accidentally rammed and sank the dispatch vessel " Forfait " . On 3 December 1875 she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Bonie , but was placed in reserve on 1 January 1876 at Brest . " Jeanne d ' Arc " was recommissioned on 12 April 1879 for service with the Levant Squadron . She was condemned on 28 August 1883 and nothing further is known of her fate .