The first ironclads to have all @-@ steel armor were the Italian Caio Duilio and Enrico Dandolo . Though the ships were laid down in 1873 their armor was not purchased from France until 1877 . The French navy decided in 1880 to adopt compound armor for its fleet , but found it limited in supply , so from 1884 the French navy was using steel armor . Britain stuck to compound armor until 1889 .