 Pascal, c. 1897–1900
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 France | |
| Name | Pascal |
| Laid down | 4 December 1893 |
| Launched | 26 September 1895 |
| Commissioned | 20 May 1896 |
| In service | 1 June 1897 |
| Decommissioned | 10 June 1909 |
| Stricken | 24 March 1910 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1912 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Descartes class |
| 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 |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 383–401 |
| Armament |
|
| Armor |
|
Pascal was a protected cruiser of the French Navy built in the 1890s, the second and final member of the Descartes class. The Descartes-class cruisers were ordered as part of a construction program directed at strengthening the fleet's cruiser force. At the time, France was concerned with the growing naval threat of the Italian and German fleets, and the new cruisers were intended to serve with the main fleet, and overseas in the French colonial empire. Pascal was armed with a main battery of four 164.7 mm (6.5 in) guns, was protected by an armor deck that was 20 to 40 mm (0.79 to 1.57 in) thick, and was capable of steaming at a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).
Pascal had a fairly short and uneventful career; after entering service in 1897, she was sent to French Indochina, where she served for the next seven years. During this period, she was part of the French squadron that responded to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China. In poor condition by 1904, she saw little further use and was struck from the naval register in 1911, thereafter being broken up.