Océan-class ironclad
Model of Océan on display at the Musée de la Marine, Paris
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Océan class |
| Operators: |
 French Navy
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| Preceded by: | Provence class |
| Succeeded by: | Friedland |
| Built: | 1865–1875 |
| In service: | 1870–1897 |
| In commission: | 1870–1895 |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Scrapped: | 3 |
| General characteristics (Océan as built) | |
| Type: | Ironclad |
| Displacement: | 7,749 metric tons (7,627 long tons) |
| Length: | 86.2 m (282 ft 10 in) |
| Beam: | 17.52 m (57 ft 6 in) |
| Draft: | 9.09 m (29.8 ft) |
| Installed power: | 3,780–4,180 indicated horsepower (2,820–3,120 kW) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Sail plan: | Barque or barquentine-rig |
| Speed: | 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Range: | approximately 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 750–778 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: | |
The Océan-class ironclads were a class of three wooden-hulled armored frigates built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s. Océan attempted to blockade Prussian ports in the Baltic Sea in 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War. Marengo participated in the French conquest of Tunisia in 1881. Suffren was often used as the flagship for the squadron she was assigned to. She was flagship of the Cherbourg Division, the Channel Division, Mediterranean Squadron and the Northern Squadron during her career. The ships were discarded during the 1890s.
The Océan-class ironclads were designed by Henri Dupuy de Lôme as an improved version of the Provence-class ironclads. The ships were central battery ironclads with the armament concentrated amidships. For the first time in a French ironclad three watertight iron bulkheads were fitted in the hull. Like most ironclads of their era they were equipped with a metal-reinforced ram.
The ships measured 87.73 meters (287 ft 10 in) overall, with a beam of 17.52 meters (57 ft 6 in). They had a maximum draft of 9.09 meters (29 ft 10 in) and displaced 7,749 metric tons (7,627 long tons). Their crew numbered between 750 and 778 officers and men. The metacentric height of the ships was very low, between 1.7–2.2 feet (0.5–0.7 m).
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