 Pascal, c. 1897–1900
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Descartes class |
| Builders |
|
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Linois class |
| Succeeded by | D'Assas class |
| Built | 1892–1897 |
| In commission | 1896–1920 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 4,005 t (3,942 long tons; 4,415 short tons) |
| Length | 100.7 m (330 ft 5 in) loa |
| Beam | 12.95 m (42 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 6.01 m (19 ft 9 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Range | 5,500 nmi (10,200 km; 6,300 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 383–401 |
| Armament |
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| Armor |
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The Descartes class comprised two protected cruisers of the French Navy built in the early 1890s; the two ships were Descartes and Pascal. They were ordered as part of a naval construction program directed at France's rivals, Italy and Germany, particularly after Italy made progress in modernizing its own fleet. The plan was also intended to remedy a deficiency in cruisers that had been revealed during training exercises in the 1880s. As such, the Descartes-class cruisers were intended to operate as fleet scouts and in the French colonial empire. The ships were armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.48 in) guns supported by ten 100 mm (3.9 in) guns and they had a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Descartes and Pascal were initially sent to French Indochina in the late 1890s, where they participated in the campaign to suppress the Boxer Uprising in Qing China. Descartes was recalled to France in 1902 to serve in the Atlantic Division while Pascal remained in East Asia, serving until 1904 when she was deactivated due to poor condition. Descartes was sent back to East Asia in 1905 and later to French Madagascar before returning to France in 1907, thereafter serving with the main French fleets in the Mediterranean Sea and English Channel. Pascal was sold to ship breakers in 1911, while Descartes served another stint in the Atlantic Division. She remained there during the first three years of World War I before returning to France in 1917, where she was disarmed and decommissioned. She was struck from the naval register in 1920 and was sold for scrap the following year.