Impérial was one of five second-rank, 90-gun, steam-powered Algésiras-class ships of the line built for the French Navy in the 1850s.

The ship participated in the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and the Second French intervention in Mexico in 1862.

The ships displaced 5,121 tonnes (5,040 long tons) and had a draught of 8.45 metres (27 ft 9 in) at deep load.

[1] The primary difference between Napoléon and the Algésiras class was that the boilers of the latter ships were moved forward of the engines.

[1] Impérial took part in the Second Italian War of Independence and the Second French intervention in Mexico.