Océan was a wooden-hulled, armored frigate built for the French Navy in the mid to late 1860s and the lead ship of her class.

[2] The Océan-class ships had one horizontal return connecting rod compound steam engine driving a single propeller.

[2] On sea trials the engine produced 3,600 indicated horsepower (2,700 kW) and Océan reached 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph).

[3] The Océan-class ships were barque or barquentine-rigged with three masts and had a sail area around 2,000 square meters (22,000 sq ft).

[2] They fired a shell weighing about 500 g (1.1 lb) at a muzzle velocity of about 610 m/s (2,000 ft/s) to a range of about 3,200 meters (3,500 yd).

However, the guns mounted in the barbettes sponsoned out over the sides of the hull did have some ability to fire fore and aft.

[1] The ship began her sea trials on 3 December 1869, but was not commissioned until 21 July 1870 for service during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71.

Océan was assigned to the Gunnery School that same year and later became a training ship for naval apprentices before being condemned in 1894.