French ironclad Friedland

Friedland was a central battery ironclad with the armament concentrated amidships. Like most ironclads of her era she was fitted with a plough-shaped ram. The ship measured overall, She carried of coal which allowed her to steam for approximately at a speed of . Friedland was initially ship rigged with three masts, then barque-rigged and finally fore-and-aft rigged after her mainmast was removed. At some point the ship received 22 Hotchkiss 5-barrel revolving guns. The hull was not recessed to enable any of the guns on the battery deck to fire forward or aft. However, the guns mounted in the barbettes sponsoned out over the sides of the hull did have some ability to fire fore and aft. In 1884 two above-water torpedo tubes were added. Two more were added in 1891. Friedland had a complete wrought iron waterline belt. The sides and the transverse bulkheads of the battery itself were armoured with of wrought iron. The barbettes were unarmoured. ==Service==

Friedland was laid down at Lorient in January 1865 and launched on 15 October 1873. The ship began her sea trials on 1 May 1875, but was not completed until 20 June 1877. in 1880, the last of the International Squadron, convened by the Treaty of Berlin.The Graphic 1880 Friedland joined the Mediterranean Squadron in 1878 and the ship bombarded the Tunisian port of Sfax from 6–16 July 1881 as part of the French occupation of Tunisia. She was reduced to reserve in 1887 and decommissioned in 1893. Friedland returned to active duty in 1893, but was paid off in 1898 and condemned in 1902. ==Footnotes==