HMS Warrior 1860

When HMS Warrior 1860 made her triumphant return to Portsmouth in 1987 after she was fully restored to her Victorian glory in Hartlepool she changed the panorama of the City, sitting proudly in the Harbour.

When she was originally built she was, quite simply, bigger, faster and more heavily armed than any other warship afloat.  Warrior was the world’s first iron-hulled, armoured warship powered by steam as well as sail and constructed of wrought iron.  She was the ultimate deterrent. She never once fired a shot in anger. Her strength was her ability to keep the peace. She represents Pax Britannica at its zenith. However within a decade she was obsolete, her technology surpassed.   

The only surviving member of Queen Victoria's Black Battle Fleet, Warrior was used for 50 years as an oil jetty at Milford Haven before being restored to her former glory.

As visitors explore her four vast decks, they enter another world – that of the Victorian sailor and life in a 19th century warship.