 Jean Bart early in her career
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jean Bart class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  French Navy |
| Preceded by | Troude class |
| Succeeded by | Alger |
| Built | 1887–1893 |
| In commission | 1891–1914 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Protected 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 |
|
| 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 |
|
The Jean Bart class comprised two protected cruisers of the French Navy built in the late 1880s and early 1890s; the two ships were Jean Bart and Isly. They were ordered as part of a fleet program that accorded with the theories of the Jeune École, which proposed a fleet based on cruisers and torpedo boats to defend France. The Jean Bart-class cruisers were intended to serve a long-range commerce raiders to attack enemy merchant shipping. The ships were armed with a main battery of four 164 mm (6.5 in) guns supported by six 138 mm (5.4 in) guns and they had a top speed of 19 to 19.5 knots (35.2 to 36.1 km/h; 21.9 to 22.4 mph).
After entering service, Isly was assigned to the Northern Squadron, while Jean Bart operated with the Mediterranean Squadron until 1895, when she, too, joined the Northern Squadron. That year, Isly was sent to French Indochina, and they were followed by Jean Bart followed in 1898. Jean Bart was present in the Far East during the Boxer Uprising in Qing China the following year, by which time Isly had been transferred to the North Atlantic station. Jean Bart was wrecked off the coast of the Western Sahara in 1907 and could not be refloated. Isly was converted into a depot ship in 1909 before being sold to ship breakers in 1914.