 Davout early in her career
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Amiral Cécille |
| Succeeded by | Suchet |
| History | |
 France | |
| Name | Davout |
| Ordered | 1 March 1887 |
| Laid down | 12 September 1887 |
| Launched | 31 October 1889 |
| Commissioned | 20 October 1890 |
| Decommissioned | 1 May 1909 |
| Stricken | 9 March 1910 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1913 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected cruiser |
| Displacement | 3,330 t (3,280 long tons; 3,670 short tons) |
| Length | 91.25 m (299 ft 5 in) loa |
| Beam | 11.62 m (38 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 4.65 m (15 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 20.7 knots (38.3 km/h; 23.8 mph) |
| Complement | 329 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Davout was a protected cruiser of the French Navy that was built in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The ship was ordered during the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube as the French Minister of Marine, who favored a fleet centered on large numbers of cruisers of various types. Davout and the similar vessel Suchet were ordered to fill the role of a medium cruiser in Aube's plans. Davout was armed with a main battery of six 164 mm (6.5 in) guns in single mounts, and she had a top speed of 20.7 knots (38.3 km/h; 23.8 mph).
Davout had a relatively uneventful career; her completion was delayed by two years due to problems with her propulsion system. After entering service in 1893, she was assigned to the Reserve Squadron, based in the Mediterranean Sea. The ship spent the rest of the decade operating either with the Reserve Squadron for training exercises or as part of the training unit of the French fleet. In 1899, she received a major overhaul that included the installation of new boilers, and in 1902, she was assigned to the North Atlantic Station. By 1910, she had been struck from the naval register, and Davout was subsequently sold to ship breakers.