The British Royal Navy's ironclad Admiral-class battleships of the 1880s followed the pattern of the Devastation class in having the main armament on centreline mounts fore and aft of the superstructure. This pattern was followed by most following British designs until HMS Dreadnought in 1906. They were known as the Admiral class because they were all named after British admirals, such as Admiral George Anson.

The Royal Navy's Victoria class of the 1880s was the first class of ironclad warship which used triple expansion steam engines, previous classes having used compound engines.