HMS Warrior 1860

HMS Warrior is the world’s first modern battleship combining an iron hull, armour plate and steam machinery. Launched in 1860 to counter the threat posed by the French Navy, she was the fastest and most heavily armoured ship of her day. Such was the pace of Victorian technological change that she was obsolete by 1883 and hulked in 1898. Following this she performed a variety of roles including forming a part of the Navy’s training school, HMS Vernon in Portsmouth from 1904-1924 and then serving as a floating pontoon at Pembroke Dock from 1929-1979. In 1979 she was transferred to the Warrior Preservation Trust and taken to Hartlepool for a £7 million restoration project funded predominantly by the late Sir John Smith. In 1987 after her 8 year restoration, HMS Warrior returned to Portsmouth to take her place within Portsmouth’s Historic Dockyard. The ship is the responsibility of the Warrior Preservation Trust, an independent charity. It depends entirely on income raised from visitors, fundraising, special events and filming to preserve the ship for the benefit of this and future generations.