Warrior's French rival and preserved career

HMS Warrior answered a French ironclad program led by Gloire, whose armor covered a wooden hull. Warrior's wrought-iron construction, 9,210-ton displacement, and 400-foot length made her much larger than the 5,700-ton French ship. Her gun deck had a 4.5-inch iron belt backed by 18 inches of teak, and steam machinery gave her more than 14 knots alongside a full sailing rig. The account gives a complement of 50 officers and 650 ratings in 1863 and identifies Lieutenant Jackie Fisher as her early gunnery officer. After three uneventful commissions she entered reserve, later becoming Vernon III in Portsmouth's floating torpedo school. In 1929 she moved to Milford Haven as a floating oil jetty. Rescue by the Maritime Trust in 1979 led to a £4 million reconstruction at Hartlepool, where the workforce included trainees. The contemporary book describes a planned return to Portsmouth in April 1987 for public display. Later uses of the Warrior name included a cruiser lost after Jutland, an aircraft carrier, and the Northwood shore establishment.