only made under sail. Both funnels were semi-retractable to reduce wind resistance while under sail. Admiral George A. Ballard described Minotaur and her sisters as "the dullest performers under canvas of the whole masted fleet of their day, and no ships ever carried so much dress to so little purpose." In 1893–4, after her withdrawal from active service, Minotaur had two masts removed and was re-rigged as a barque. Armament The armament of the Minotaur-class ships was intended to be 40 rifled 110-pounder breech-loading guns on the main deck and 10 more on the upper deck on pivot mounts. The gun was a new design from Armstrong, but proved a failure a few years after its introduction. The gun was withdrawn before any were received by any of the Minotaur-class ships. They were armed, instead, with a mix of and rifled muzzle-loading guns. All four nine-inch and 20 seven-inch guns were mounted on the main deck while four seven-inch guns were fitted on the upper deck as chase guns. The ship also received eight brass howitzers for use as saluting guns. The gun ports were wide which allowed each gun to fire 30° fore and aft of the beam. The shell of the 14-calibre 9-inch gun weighed while the gun itself weighed . It had a muzzle velocity of and was credited with the ability to penetrate a of wrought iron armour at the muzzle. The 16-calibre 7-inch gun weighed and fired a shell. It was credited with the ability to penetrate armour. Minotaur was rearmed in 1875 with a uniform armament of 17 nine-inch guns, 14 on the main deck, two forward chase guns and one rear chase gun. The gun ports had to be enlarged to accommodate the larger guns by hand, at a cost of £250 each. About 1883 two breech-loading guns replaced two 9-inch muzzle-loading guns. Four quick-firing (QF) 4.7-inch (120-mm) guns, eight QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns, eight machine guns and two torpedo tubes were installed in 1891–2. Armour The entire side of the Minotaur-class ships was protected by wrought iron armour that tapered from at the ends to amidships, except for a section of the bow between the upper and main decks. The armour extended below the waterline. A single 5.5-inch transverse bulkhead protected the forward chase guns on the upper deck. The armour was backed by of teak. Construction and service HMS Minotaur was