was an unprotected cruiser of the built for the French Navy in the late 1860s. The French initially attempted to mount a gun aboard the ship to improve their shore bombardment capability. Such a large gun proved to be too heavy, and it was instead replaced with a gun. After entering service in 1871, was sent abroad to the Pacific Ocean, which she patrolled until 1874. Her next overseas cruise took her to the South Atlantic from 1878 to 1882. The following year, the ship was sent to Madagascar as part of the First Madagascar expedition, which sought to enforce French colonial claims over the island. saw heavy action during the operations, both in bombarding enemy forces and sending landing parties ashore to seize coastal towns. The ship returned to France in 1886, but was sent back to Madagascar in 1887. After being struck from the naval register in 1889, she was used to store coal in Lorient until 1917, when she was broken up.

Design

The of unprotected cruiser was ordered as part of a major construction program to modernize the French cruising fleet. The ships were designed in the late 1860s; the ships were based on the earlier steam corvette , but influenced by the armament adopted for the larger s. The adopted an armament of just a few medium-caliber guns instead of a larger number of light weapons as had been used in older French cruisers. The French Navy wanted the new ships to be able to bombard coastal fortifications, which required the larger guns. A total of ten ships were ordered to the design.

Characteristics was long overall, and she had a beam of . She had an average draft of that was at most at the stern, and she displaced . She had a wooden hull with a straight stem. Her normal crew numbered 154 officers and sailors.

The ship's propulsion system consisted of a single horizontal compound engine that drove a single screw propeller. Steam for the engine was provided by two coal-fired Scotch marine boilers, which were vented through a funnel located amidships. The propulsion system was designed to produce for a top speed of around . In service, these figures varied between and speeds of . Coal storage amounted to , which allowed the ships to steam for up to at a cruising speed of . The ship was fitted with a three-masted barque rig to supplement the steam engine on long voyages abroad.

was completed with an armament that consisted of one rifled gun and three guns. The ship's weaponry was changed in the mid-1870s, and at that time the 194 mm gun was replaced by a 164 mm gun. The lighter guns were also superseded by five guns and one gun. In the 1880s, the 164 mm gun was also replaced with a 138 mm gun, and at least two Hotchkiss revolver cannon were added.

Service history was laid down at the shipyard in Lorient on 24 January 1868, and her completed hull was launched on 26 August 1870. She was commissioned on a limited capacity to begin sea trials on 1 March 1871. Initial testing was completed later that month. was then sent abroad to cruise the Pacific Ocean, protecting French commercial interests in the region. At the time, French cruisers in the region alternated between patrolling the islands of Oceania and visiting ports along the Pacific coast of South America. In July 1872, arrived in Apia, Samoa, where she embarked the local Catholic missionary for a tour of other islands in the region, including Wallis, Futuna, Rotuma, and Ovalau. From there, she cruised to New Caledonia. In November 1873, was in Valparaíso, Chile, where she was joined by the cruiser . The two cruisers then sailed south to visit Coronel and take on coal. By 1874, the (Naval Division of the Pacific Ocean) also included the ironclad warships and , the cruisers and , and the aviso . In early 1874, returned home and was decommissioned on 5 April.

Another deployment abroad followed in 1878; she was recommissioned on 20 January and assigned to the South Atlantic station. She patrolled the region for the next two years before returning home. By 1880, the French squadron in the region consisted of the screw frigate , , the cruiser , the aviso , the gunboat , and the armed transport . had returned home by 1882, when she received new boilers to replace her worn-out boilers.

Madagascar campaign

By April 1883, had joined a squadron off the coast of Madagascar that included the cruisers and , the screw frigate , the aviso , and the gunboat . The squadron was commanded by Admiral . On 7 May, Pierre sent to Tamatave while he took the rest of his squadron to the Ampasindava Peninsula, where he started the First Madagascar expedition by bombarding government positions there. and the other ships attacked coastal fortifications at four towns in the area, driving off the garrisons, and sending men ashore to destroy the forts. The French then moved to Majunga on 15 May to begin the next phase of campaign. The next morning, and the other ships anchored some from the two fortifications that defended Majunga, and opened a slow bombardment, firing one shell per ship every two minutes. After a few hours, the garrisons fled, abandoning some thirty artillery pieces, and and briefly sailed north to complete the bombardment from another angle. A landing party from the ships was then sent ashore to seize Majunga, commanded by Captain Gaillard, the captain of .

The landing party, consisting of some 80 naval infantry and another 10 artillerymen who operated a gun, a gun, and three of the captured guns, occupied one of the forts. To support the small garrison, Pierre left and there to guard the town while he took the rest of the squadron to join at Tamatave, where on 1 June he issued an ultimatum, which the Merina government rejected on 9 June. The next day, the French consul in Tamatave boarded , after which Pierre bombarded the city. On 12 November, and the armed transport sailed to southern Madagascar and shelled Merina positions at Mahela, Mananjara, and Fort Dauphin. then sailed on alone, circling the island and bombarding any hostile forces she encountered along the way back to Tamatave. In addition, her crew gathered information on the attitudes of local towns to determine if they would support a revolt against Merina rule, though the results did not encourage further French action.

Fighting continued on the island through 1884 and 1885, though was not involved in any major operations; instead, she was sent home to France in February 1884. She had returned to Madagascar by the summer, and in August, she was sent to Zanzibar to receive instructions for French representatives negotiating a settlement. A peace treaty was finally signed on 17 December 1885. remained on the Indian Ocean station as of 31 January 1886,, but later that year, was no longer assigned to the Indian Ocean station.

Later career In 1887, returned to the Indian Ocean station, serving along with the cruisers and and the gunboats , , and . was eventually struck from the naval register on 27 June 1889. She was initially used as a coal storage hulk in Lorient, a role she filled through 1917. During this period, she was moved from her normal position on 30 December 1915 so the river could be dredged before being moved back on 18 January 1916. was condemned on 25 July 1917 and was broken up in Lorient by shipyard workers and German prisoners of war.

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