French cruiser D'Assas
D'Assas was the lead ship of her class of protected cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s. The "D'Assas"-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. "D'Assas" was armed with a main battery of six guns, was protected by an armor deck that was thick, and was capable of  steaming at a top speed of . "D'Assas" initially served with the Mediterranean Squadron after entering service in 1898, and by 1901, she had been transferred to the Northern Squadron. During this period, she was occupied with routine peacetime training exercises with the rest of the main French fleets in home waters. In 1904, she was assigned to France's cruiser squadron in East Asia, and the following year, she assisted with the unsuccessful attempt to re-float the armored cruiser after it ran aground. "D'Assas" passed the next several years uneventfully and was struck from the naval register in 1914 ; she was then sold to ship breakers. Design. In response to a war scare with Italy in the late 1880s, the French Navy embarked on a major construction program in 1890 to counter the threat of the Italian fleet and that of Italy's ally Germany. The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire. The "D'Assas" class, which also included and , was ordered as part of the program, and was very similar to the earlier s. "D'Assas" was long between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a  draft of . She displaced . Her crew varied over the course of her career, and consisted of 370–392 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers. Steam was provided by twenty coal-burning Lagrafel d'Allest water-tube boilers that were ducted into three funnels. Her machinery was rated to produce for a top speed of . She had a cruising radius of at and at 20 knots. The ship was armed with a main battery of six guns. They were placed in individual pivot mounts; one was on  the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the forward conning tower, and the last was on the stern. These were supported by a secondary battery of four guns, which were carried in pivot mounts in the fore and aft conning towers, one on each side per tower. For close-range defense against torpedo boats, she carried ten 3-pounder Hotchkiss guns and five 1-pounder guns. She was also armed with two torpedo tubes in her hull above the waterline. Armor protection consisted of a curved armor deck that was thick, along with 100 mm plating on the conning tower . Service history. "D'Assas" was laid down at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Nantes in 1894. She was launched on 28 March 1896 and was completed in March 1898, the last member of her class to enter service. She entered service in time to take part in the annual fleet maneuvers with the Mediterranean Squadron, France's primary battle fleet. The exercises that year lasted from 5 to 25 July. The next year, she was formally assigned to the squadron. At that time, the unit consisted of six pre-dreadnought battleships, three armored cruisers, seven other protected  cruisers, and several smaller vessels. By January 1901, "D'Assas" had been assigned to the Northern Squadron, which was stationed in Brest, France. The squadron at that time consisted of two pre-dreadnoughts, four ironclads, four coastal defense ships, two armored cruisers, and one other protected cruiser, along with several smaller vessels. That year, the annual fleet maneuvers were conducted from 3 to 28 July. During the exercises, the Northern Squadron steamed south for joint maneuvers with the Mediterranean Squadron. The Northern Squadron ships formed part of the hostile force, and as it was entering the Mediterranean from the Atlantic, represented  a German squadron attempting to meet its Italian allies. In August and September, the Northern Squadron conducted amphibious assault exercises. On 28 August, they escorted a group of troop ships from Brest to La Rochelle. The ships conducted a simulated bombardment of the port, neutralized the coastal defenses, and put some 6,000 men ashore. "D'Assas" remained in the unit through 1902. By 1904, "D'Assas" had been assigned to the (Naval Division of the Far East and Western Pacific), which also included the armored cruisers and . "D'Assas" was tasked with escorting the four destroyers , , , and to the East Asia station, but  repeated engine problems with "D'Assas" forced the destroyers to proceed independently. The cruiser, meanwhile, had to stop for repairs in Algiers in French Algeria and then again at Lubang Buaya in the Dutch East Indies. After arriving in Indochina, "D'Assas" joined the rest of the unit. On 8 February 1905, while steaming with "D'Assas" and "Gueydon", "Sully" ran aground and could not free herself. "D'Assas" and "Gueydon" took off her crew and began salvage efforts, but the cruiser could not be pulled free, and eventually broke in two. Having returned to France by 1908, "D'Assas" was selected for conversion into  a fast minelayer, along with her sister ship "Cassard". After several uneventful years, "D'Assas" was struck from the naval register in 1914 and sold for scrap; she was the only member of her class to have been discarded before the start of World War I.