HMS Warrior - April 2011

I took this photo at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard: Main Rd Portsmouth, Hampshire PO1 3LJ, United Kingdom.

The Warrior was launched in 1861. Powered by steam and sail, she was the largest, fastest and most powerful ship of her day. The warship was designed and built in response to an aggressive French shipbuilding program which saw the introduction of the first iron-clad warship "La Gloire."
Warrior was the largest warship in the world, at 9,210 tons displacement she was fully 60% larger than La Gloire.

In June 1862, she started active service, patrolling England's coastal waters and sailing to Lisbon and Gibraltar.

Having introduced a revolution in naval architecture, by 1864 Warrior was superseded by faster designs, with bigger guns and thicker armor.