The French Navy

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 Invincible was a sister ship to the 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...

. It was launched on 4 April 1861. 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...

. Invincible was the second of the class to be completed.

Invincibles 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 1872, after less than 10 years' service.