HMS WARRIOR.
HMS Warrior built 1860 was the world's first iron-hulled armoured battleship.
She was built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French battleship La Gloire launched in 1859.
When first launched, the 4.5 inch thick wrought iron armoured belt meant that she could withstand all naval cannon in service at that time, she was regarded as the most powerful warship in the world.
The rapid advances in technology at that time resulted in HMS Warrior becoming obsolete within ten years. In 1875 she was relegated to the Reserve Fleet ranks her guns and upper masts were removed around this time.
HMS Warrior was saved from being scrapped by the work of the Maritime Trust, who recognized the ship as one of the Royal Navy's most historically important warships.
Restoration of HMS Warrior for use as a museum ship began in August 1979 and by mid-1987, after years of hard work the restoration was completed, on June 16th 1987 she was moved to her current berth in Portsmouth.
Visitors can view all aspects of life on board, beautifully recreated as it would of have been, there are countless artifacts on board, such as cannon and naval equipment of the day. The officers quarters hold some very fine furniture, you can also visit the quarter masters store and the engine rooms.
VISITOR DETAILS:
Address: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, Hampshire, PO1 3LJ
Tel: 02392 839766
Historic Dockyard - map.
Car Parking.
Historic Dockyard website.
