For a brief period the two Warrior-class ironclads were the most powerful warships in the world, being virtually impregnable to the naval guns of the time.

Black Prince spent her active career with the Channel Fleet and was hulked in 1896, becoming a harbour training ship in Queenstown, Ireland.

The hull was subdivided by watertight transverse bulkheads into 92 compartments and had a double bottom underneath the engine and boiler rooms.

[2] The Warrior-class ships had one 2-cylinder trunk steam engine made by John Penn and Sons driving a single 24-foot-6-inch (7.5 m) propeller.

The engine produced a total of 5,772 indicated horsepower (4,304 kW) during Black Prince's sea trials in September 1862 and the ship had a maximum speed of 13.6 knots (25.2 km/h; 15.7 mph) under steam alone.

[5] The ship carried 800 long tons (810 t) of coal, enough to steam 2,100 nautical miles (3,900 km; 2,400 mi) at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).

[11] The sides of Black Prince were protected by an armour belt of wrought iron, 4.5 inches (114 mm) thick, that covered the middle 213 feet (64.9 m) of the ship.

[10] Black Prince was ordered on 6 October 1859[12] from Robert Napier and Sons in Govan, Glasgow, for the price of £377,954.

In 1878 Captain Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh took command and the ship crossed the Atlantic to participate in the installation of a new Governor General of Canada.

Upon her return Black Prince was placed in reserve at Devonport, and, reclassified as an armoured cruiser, she was reactivated periodically to take part in annual fleet exercises.