 Jean Bart off Toulon early in her career
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Jean Bart |
| Ordered | 18 September 1886 |
| Builder | Arsenal de Rochefort |
| Laid down | September 1887 |
| Launched | 24 October 1889 |
| Commissioned | 5 March 1891 |
| In service | 5 March 1892 |
| Stricken | 13 April 1907 |
| Fate | Wrecked, 11 February 1907 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Jean Bart-class cruiser |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 109.6 m (359 ft 7 in) long overall |
| Beam | 13.3 m (43 ft 8 in) |
| Draft | 6.05 m (19 ft 10 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Range | 7,014 nmi (12,990 km; 8,072 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement | 331–405 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Jean Bart was a protected cruiser of the Jean Bart class built for the French Navy in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The lead ship the class of two ships, Jean Bart and her sister ship were ordered during the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube as Minister of Marine according to the theories of the Jeune École doctrine. The ships were intended as long-range commerce raiders, and they were armed with a main battery of four 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, were protected by an armor deck that was 50 to 100 mm (2 to 4 in) thick, and were capable of steaming at a top speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph).
Jean Bart served with the Mediterranean Squadron for the first two years of her career, thereafter being transferred to the Northern Squadron. During this period, she took part in training exercises with the fleet. In 1897, the ship was modernized with new masts and electric search lights. She was deployed to French Indochina in Southeast Asia in 1898 and she was part of the French squadron that responded to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China. Jean Bart underwent a second refit between 1903 and 1906 that included new water-tube boilers that improved her performance. She saw little use afterward, as she ran aground off the Western Sahara in early 1907 and could not be refloated.