As a central battery ironclad, Armide's primary arms were located along the center of the design, exposed along the surface deck in circular barbette emplacements. In all, the vessel was outfitted with 6 x 7.6" (194mm) Mle 1864 series cannon along with 4 x 4.7" (120mm) cannons. Main guns were spread about the upper deck and battery deck. The smaller 4" guns were left in exposed positions on the upper deck, two to either side of the ship and one at each corner. Of course any personal weapons carried by the crew could be brought into play during boarding actions.
Almost as soon as she was commissioned in July of 1870, Armide was sent to the North Sea via the English Channel before turning to Baltic Waters to enact a naval blockade of Prussia during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871). The war spawned from the drive to unite German states with the North German Confederation, French leader Napoleon III (nephew of famous general Napoleon I) declaring war on Prussia based on a perceived insult. One of its engagements, the Battle of Sedan (September 1870), saw the capture of Napoleon III by Prussian forces which helped to evolve the Second French Empire into the Third Republic on September 4th, 1870. The war left France in a weakened state while it gave rise to the German Empire and its newly-found industrialized power. Germany also gained the territory of Alsace-Lorraine from France. The results of the Franco-Prussian War helped to lay the foundation for World War 1, providing the requisite hatred between the two nations for the upcoming bloodbath. The Armide was recalled to Cherbourg, France from Baltic waters on September 16th only to be decommissioned on November 1st, 1870.
Due to a need, the vessel was placed back into service on January 12th, 1871 and her first order proved another naval blockade of Prussian resources, this time the Prussian corvette Arcona berthing at Lisbon, Portugal. The Armide resided on station in containment of the Arcona until the end of the conflict in May of 1871. From then onwards, she served in Mediterranean waters and provided another blockade action during unrest in Cartagena, Spain along the southeast of the country into 1873 before being decommissioned for a second time on October 28th. At this time, she lost some of her armament to reduce her strength to just six cannon. The French Navy operated Armide up until 1886 to which she was then relegated for use as a gunnery trials target before being broken up for good in 1887, bringing an end to her tenure of the seas.
In the French (and English, "Armide" translates to "witch".
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