French ironclad Atalante

Atalante in the Fitzroy Dock, Sydney Harbour, 1873
History
France
Name:	Atalante
Builder:	Cherbourg
Laid down:	June 1865
Launched:	9 April 1868
Commissioned:	1869
Fate:	Condemned 1887; foundered afterwards and sank
General characteristics
Class and type:	Alma-class ironclad
Displacement:	3,825 metric tons (3,765 long tons)
Length:	68.78 m (225 ft 8 in)
Beam:	14.2 m (46 ft 7 in)
Draft:	6.56 m (21.5 ft) (mean)
Installed power:	1,640 ihp (1,220 kW)
Propulsion:	1 shaft, 1 steam engine
Sail plan:	Barque-rig
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Range:	1,460 nautical miles (2,700 km; 1,680 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	316
Armament:	6 × 1 - 194 mm (7.6 in) Mle 1864 guns 4 × 1 - 120 mm (4.7 in) guns
Armor:	Belt: 150 mm (5.9 in) Battery: 120 mm (4.7 in) Barbettes: 100 mm (4 in) Bulkheads: 120 mm (4.7 in)

The French ironclad Atalante was a wooden-hulled armored corvette built for the French Navy in the mid-1860s. She played a minor role in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, bombarded Vietnamese forts during the Battle of Thuan An in 1884 and participated in the Sino-French War of 1884–85. Atalante was reduced to reserve in Saigon in 1885 and sank there two years later after having been condemned.

The Alma-class ironclads were designed as improved versions of the armored corvette Belliqueuse 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.

Atalante measured 68.78 meters (225 ft 8 in) between perpendiculars, with a beam of 14.2 meters (46 ft 7 in). She had a mean draft of 6.56 meters (21 ft 6 in) and displaced 3,825 metric tons (3,765 long tons). Her crew numbered 316 officers and men.

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 1,640 indicated horsepower (1,220 kW) and the ship reached 11.56 knots (21.41 km/h; 13.30 mph).Atalante carried 250 metric tons (250 long tons) of coal which allowed the ship to steam for 1,460 nautical miles (2,700 km; 1,680 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She was barque-rigged and had a sail area of 1,338 square meters (14,400 sq ft).