The
Dévastation-class ironclad floating batteries were built for the attack of Russian coastal fortifications during the
Crimean War. France had intended to build ten of these vessels, but in the time available was only able to construct five in French shipyards, of which the first three took part in the attack on
Kinburn in 1855, and served in the Adriatic in June-July 1859 during the
Italian war.