 This minority succeeded in convincing the Board to design "Alexandra" as a rigged broadside vessel.Built at Chatham Dockyard and engined by Messrs Humphreys and Tennant, "Alexandra" was the last of a long series of progressive steps in the development of vessels of her type.As the militarily most effective of all of the broadside ironclads, it is ironic that she was designed by Nathaniel Barnaby, who was one of the earliest and most effective proponents of the virtues of turret-mounted artillery.