FS Sphynx/CSS Stonewall/IJN Kotetsu, 1/600

The French built Ironclad CSS Stonewall was quite a legend: It first was built by the French for the Southern Confederacy, but enterred service for the Confederacy only too late too see major action. As the civil war ended, the ship was sold to Japan for the Shogunate but was eventually delievered to the Imperial Navy, which directly caused their victory at sea against the Shogunate government "in exile" in Hokkaido known as Ezo Republic.

As such, the ironclad that failed its mission in a nation had become the king maker of another.