Hi. Acknoweledgement to...W.RRHardy & various Platt & Munk books for this Article..
The change from wooden ships to ones built of metal began in 1859, when the first metal-protected ship, The French frigate "Gloire" was launched in 1859, she was built of wood but was protected along her waterline and over part of her hull by 5-inch thick metal plating. She weighed some 5,670 tons and had a speed of up to 13 knots.Was 252 feet long,55 feet wide and a draught of 25 feet.
In 1860 the British launched the frigate "Warrier" which was one up on the French she was built completely of iron.She looked not unlike the swift clippers but was powered by a screw propeller turned by a steam engine of 1,250 HP,speed was about 14 knots.
One early and peculiar steam-driven warship appeared in 1862 during the American Civil War, she was the Southern ship "Merrimac", an old steam-screw frigate which had been sunk by the Union troops,then salvaged and patched up . She had no masts,sat low in the water, and was topped by a superstructure of wood iron two feet thrick. She had 10 guns. ... To oppose the Merrimac the Union had the "Monitor"., another strange ship drsigned by Swedish engineer J Ericsson. The hull consisted of 2 parts: an underwater body 124 feet long ,34 feet wide and 6 feet deep: Above this a longer hull 175 feet long, 41.5 feet wide and 5 feet high, and only 3 feet of the hull appeared above the water. She had a rotating gun tower amidship with 2 guns. Astern of this were 2 removable funnels and 2 removable ventilation shafts. The "Monitor" succeeded in sinking the "Merrimac", but was herself was very close to sinking after the engagement.( i have not yet found any record of persons killed, wounded or injured )
Reg.

I’m sure the change from wooden ships to iron ships had its critics but at least many of the seamanship skills were continued on in varying degrees, wire ropes became more evident and splicing the same must have been a newer skill but now it is all gone and all in the name of safety, Britain is no longer a seafaring nation and that’s very sad.