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HMS Warrior completed and commissioned

When
1861
Where
Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, London, United Kingdom
Episodes
1

HMS Warrior, the first ocean-going iron-hulled armored battleship, was commissioned in August 1861 for sea trials. Completed on 24 October 1861 at Thames Ironworks, she became the world's largest, fastest, and most heavily armed warship. The project responded to French ironclad developments, marking a fundamental shift in naval warfare and construction methods.

Episodes

  1. August 1861 to 24 October 1861 · Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, London, United KingdomCommissioning and Completion

    HMS Warrior was commissioned in August 1861 for sea trials and completed on 24 October 1861 at a cost of £377,292.

Background and detail

Background. The Royal Navy ordered HMS Warrior in May 1859 to counter France's Gloire, the first ocean-going ironclad. Built by Thames Ironworks, she was the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warship. The ship's construction represented a significant departure from traditional wooden ships, addressing the strategic imbalance caused by French naval innovations and the resulting invasion scare in Britain.

Commissioning. Commissioned in August 1861 for sea trials, Warrior was completed on 24 October 1861. The cost of £377,292 was nearly double that of contemporary wooden ships. Upon completion, she was the most powerful warship globally, featuring advanced armament and armor that was practically invulnerable to existing ordnance.

People involved

Sources

  1. HMS Warrior (1860) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-13
  2. Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-06

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.