"Suchet" was among the vessels to respond to the eruption of Mount Pelée on the island of Martinique that had begun in early 1902. She arrived off the city on 6 May, two days before the main eruption that destroyed the town of Saint-Pierre. She rescued thirty people, all of whom were badly burned, who were able to escape from the city. The British merchant ship caught fire in the harbor, and "Suchet" came alongside and to help suppress the blaze, but it could not be put out; she instead evacuated the surviving twenty-five of her crew of sixty-eight. "Suchet" then took the survivors to Fort-de-France and returned to join the evacuation effort for other towns in the area, including Le Prêcheur, over the following days. During these operations, "Suchet" picked up around 1,200 people and brought them to Fort-de-France by 11 May. "Suchet" remained in Fort-de-France and her crew helped to unload the supplies that had been sent from other countries in response to the disaster. Le Bris was promoted to the rank of captain for his actions during the disaster.