HMS Research was a small ironclad warship, converted from a wooden-hulled sloop and intended as an experimental platform in which to try out new concepts in armament and in armour.

While these guns were certainly much more effective against armour than smaller pieces, whether a two-gun broadside would have prevailed against more generously armed ironclads is open to question.

The hull sides were recessed at either end of the battery, and gunports were constructed facing fore and aft to which the guns could be moved.

[1] Research was fitted with a 2-cylinder Boulton and Watt horizontal single-expansion direct-acting steam engine of 200 nominal horsepower.

Steam was provided by two tubular boilers, and the screw, which was 12 feet (4 m) in diameter, could be hoisted clear of the water for better performance under sail.

Although Edward Reed, her designer, had expected great things of her, the Standard of 27 October 1865 said "probably the very worst vessel, both as a fighting machine and a sea-boat, that ever yet went out of a dockyard of any nation pretending to a maritime reputation".

[2] On 1 January 1868, while on patrol duties at the south coast of Ireland, she grounded near Cork Harbour while giving chase to an American ship, Alaska.