aerial photograph of HMS Warrior 1860 in Portsmouth Harbour Hampshire England UK

aerial photograph of HMS Warrior 1860 in Portsmouth Harbour. When launched in 1860 HMS Warrior was the Royal Navy's first Iron hulled armored warship.She had an innovative composite armor comprising of an 4.5" Iron sheet mounted to a teak layer to cushion impacts and the whole lot bolted to the iron hull. This armor made are virtually invulnerable to all naval guns of the time. She had a relatively short career as a front line warship due to the rapid advancement in naval technology of the time. Like most ships of the day she was built with both steam power and auxiliary sails. The rigging for sails precluded the use of turrets and so her armament was carried in the hull. She was soon replaced by steam only warships which mounted their armament in turrets. She was decomissioned in 1883 and used as a depot ship and oil jetty until 1979. She has now been restored and preserved as a museum ship.