 The French navy built the first ironclad to try to gain a strategic advantage over the British , but were consistently out @-@ built by the British . Despite taking the lead with a number of innovations like breech @-@ loading weapons and steel construction , the French navy could never match the size of the Royal Navy . In the 1870s , the construction of ironclads ceased for a while in France as the Jeune Ecole school of naval thought took prominence , suggesting that torpedo boats and unarmored cruisers would be the future of warships . Like the British , the French navy saw little action with its ironclads ; the French blockade of Germany in the Franco @-@ Prussian War was ineffective , as the war was settled entirely on land . 
 The French navy built the first ironclad to try to gain a strategic advantage over the British , but <a href='uninflect' title='1'><mark>were</mark></a> consistently out @-@ built by the British . Despite taking the lead with a number of innovations like breech @-@ loading weapons and steel construction , the French navy could never match <a href='None' title='2'><mark>the</mark></a><a href='negative_concord' title='3'><mark>size</mark></a> of the Royal Navy . In the 1870s , the construction of ironclads ceased for a while in France as the Jeune Ecole school of naval thought took prominence , suggesting that torpedo boats and unarmored cruisers would be the future of warships . Like the British , the French navy saw little action with its ironclads ; the French blockade of Germany in the Franco @-@ Prussian War was ineffective , as the war was settled entirely on land . 
The French navy built the first ironclad to try to gain a strategic advantage ova da British , but was consistently out @-@ built by the British . Despite takin the lead wid a number of innovations like breech @-@ loading weapons and steel construction , tdaFrench navy could never match no size of thdaoyal Navy . In theda70s , the dastruction of ironclads ceased fa a while in France as the Jdae Ecole skoo of naval thought took prominence , suggesting that torpedo boats and unarmored cruisers would be the future of warships . Like the British , the French navy saw little action wwits ironclads ; the Frdah blockade of Germany in the Franco @-@ Prussian War was ineffective , as the war was settled entirely on land .