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Normandie (Ship)
Encyclopedia
The French Navy
's Normandie was a sister ship to the La Gloire
, the world's first ocean-going ironclad battleship
. The Gloire class were designed by the French naval architect Dupuy de Lôme
. Normandie was the third and last of the class to be completed.
In 1862, Normandie became the first ironclad to cross the Atlantic
, on her way to support the French intervention in Mexico
. It also carried Napoleon Bonaparte I's remains from St. Helena to his final resting place in Les Invalides.
Normandies original battery proved to be ineffective against armour, and was replaced in 1868 with breech loaders. Her poor construction, a result of using poor quality timbers, saw her stricken in 1871, after less than 10 years' service.
French Navy
The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...
's Normandie was a sister ship to the La Gloire
French battleship La Gloire
The French Navy's La Gloire was the first ocean-going ironclad battleship in history.She was developed following the Crimean War, in response to new developments in naval gun technology, especially the Paixhans guns and rifled guns, which used explosive shells with increased destructive power...
, the world's first ocean-going ironclad battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
. The Gloire class were designed by the French naval architect Dupuy de Lôme
Dupuy de Lome
Dupuy de Lome may refer to:* Enrique Dupuy de Lôme, Spanish Minister to the United States in 1892* Henri Dupuy de Lôme, a French naval architect in the 19th century...
. Normandie was the third and last of the class to be completed.
In 1862, Normandie became the first ironclad to cross the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
, on her way to support the French intervention in Mexico
French intervention in Mexico
The French intervention in Mexico , also known as The Maximilian Affair, War of the French Intervention, and The Franco-Mexican War, was an invasion of Mexico by an expeditionary force sent by the Second French Empire, supported in the beginning by the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of Spain...
. It also carried Napoleon Bonaparte I's remains from St. Helena to his final resting place in Les Invalides.
Normandies original battery proved to be ineffective against armour, and was replaced in 1868 with breech loaders. Her poor construction, a result of using poor quality timbers, saw her stricken in 1871, after less than 10 years' service.