HMS Black Prince ( 1861 ) Career ( UK ) Laid down : 12 October 1859 Launched : 27 February 1861 Commissioned : 12 September 1862 Status : Sold for scrap 1923 General Characteristics Displacement : 9 , 250 tons Length : Beam : Draught : Unknown Speed : Complement : For other ships with the same name , see HMS Black Prince . HMS Black Prince , launched 27 February 1861 , was the third ship of that name to serve with the British Royal Navy . She was the world 's second ocean-going iron-hulled armoured battleship , following her sister ship , HMS Warrior in the two-ship Warrior class . For a brief period the two ships were the most powerful battleships in the world , being vitually impregnable to the naval guns of the time . Rapid advances in naval technology left Black Prince and her sister obsolete within a short time , however , and she spent more time in reserve and training roles than in first-line service . Built at Glasgow , Scotland , her completion was delayed until September 1862 by a drydock accident during outfitting . Once in service , Black Prince was assigned to the Channel Fleet until 1866 , then spent a year as flagship on the Irish coast . Overhauled and rearmed in 1867-68 , she became guardship on the River Clyde . The routine of that duty was interrupted in 1869 when she and Warrior towed a large floating drydock from the Azores to Bermuda . Black Prince was again refit ted in 1874-75 and rejoined the Channel Fleet for a tour as flagship of that force 's second-in-command . Later in the decade she crossed the Atlantic to visit Canada . In reserve from 1878 , and reclassified as an armoured cruiser during much of that period , she was reactivated periodically to take part in annual fleet exercises . Black Prince became a harbour training ship in 1896 , stationed at Queenstown , Ireland . She was renamed Emerald in 1903 . In 1910 she was taken to Plymouth for use in the training facility there under the name Impregnable III . The old ship was sold for scrapping in 1923 . References This article does not cite its references or sources . You can help Wikipedia by introducing appropriate citations . United Kingdom Categories : Articles lacking sources | Warrior class battleships | Battleships of the United Kingdom | Royal Navy battleships | Victorian era battleships of the United Kingdom In other languages : Deutsch ( UK ) 12 October 1859 27 February 1861 12 September 1862 Sold for scrap 1923 9 , 250 tons other ships with the same name HMS Black Prince article 