French ironclad Couronne

Couronne ("Crown") was an ironclad battleship of the French Navy during the Second Empire.

Career
The Couronne was built as an ironclad of FRENCH IRONCLAD Gloire type, though she was made entirely in iron rather than iron plaques fixed on a wooden hull. When built, she was the only all-iron ship in the French navy.

In 1864, Couronne took an incidental role in the Battle of Cherbourg, leading CSS Alabama off French territorial waters to her fight with USS Kearsarge (1861).

From 1881 on, she was used as a gunnery school for the Navy and modified : her armour was removed, her bow, rear and rigging were modified, giving her the appeared of a ship of the FRENCH SHIP Napoléon type. For this role, her artillery was replaced by an assortment of guns of various calibres.

In 1908, she was replaced in her role as gunnery school, and converted to a floating barracks, until she was scrapped in 1932.