2nd Class Cruisers, 1859-1882: Photo Gallery
In fleet lists as Corvettes 1859, to Corvettes à barbette 1862, Croiseurs de 2e classe 1874, and Croiseurs à barbette 1880.New/old to Croiseurs de 1re/2e classe 1885, croiseurs de station de 1er/2e classe 1891, and Croiseurs de 2e/3e classe 1892.
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1862-1869
Class: Decrès (on list 1862)
Decrès (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) at Rochefort circa 1890. (Photo: Facebook by Andrey Myatishkin on 22.5.2023 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_163)
Class: Desaix, ex Cassard (1862)
Desaix (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 74967 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Desaix, ex Cassard (1862)
Desaix (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) at Rochefort in 1884. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 3.12.2022 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_164)
Class: Châteaurenault (1866)
Châteaurenault (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) coaling ship. (Photo: NHHC NH 74981 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Infernet (1867)
Champlain (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 74815 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Infernet (1867)
Champlain (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). This photo of an unidentified French ship anchored in San Francisco Bay was marked 1894 in pencil. The only ship of this type on the Pacific Station at that time was Champlain. She looks much like she did earlier except that she has lost her bowsprit and her bridge wings have been enclosed. (Photo: Facebook by Vladimir Yakubov on 8.2.2023)
Class: Infernet (1867)
La Clocheterie (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). She was the only one of the class with a clipper bow. (Photo: NHHC NH 74998 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Infernet (1867)
Dupetit-Thouars (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) at Rochefort in 1896. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 24.8.2021 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_172)
Class: Sané (1868)
Sané (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 74988 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Sané (1868)
Seignelay (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) at Toulon. (Photo: NHHC NH 74991 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Sané (1868)
Sané (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) in 1911 as Ponton No. 1, a coal and torpedo calibration hulk at Brest. Behind her are the school hulk Dévastation and a new armored cruiser. (Photo: BNF btv1b53111535h)
1873-1878
Class: Duguay-Trouin (1873)
Duguay-Trouin (2nd class cruiser, iron hull) with original boilers at Algiers. (Photo: NH 66071, Farenholt Collection)
Class: Duguay-Trouin (1873)
Duguay-Trouin (2nd class cruiser, iron hull) with original boilers with a Colbert and a Ocean class battleship in the left background. (Photo: NH 74892 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Duguay-Trouin (1873)
Duguay-Trouin (2nd class cruiser, iron hull) with new boilers. (Photo: NHHC NH 00034, courtesy RADM Ammen Farenholt, USN)
Class: Duguay-Trouin (1873)
Duguay-Trouin (2nd class cruiser, iron hull) with new boilers at Lyttleton in January 1894. (Photo: Facebook by Dai Yan on 2.8.2021)
Class: Villars (1873)
Forfait (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 66074, Farenholt Collection)
Class: Villars (1873)
Forfait (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) on the Charente in 1896. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 7.4.2022 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_403)
Class: Villars (1873)
Magon (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 74809 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Villars (1873)
Roland (2nd class cruiser, wood hull). (Photo: NHHC NH 74997 from ONI album of French warships)
Class: Villars (1873)
Roland (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) at Rochefort in 1892. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 19.8.2023 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_755)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
D'Estaing (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) on the ways at Brest in the main arsenal. (Photo: Wikimedia from Archives M&M Brest 2Fi06404)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
D'Estaing (2nd class cruiser) ready for launching at Brest in the main arsenal. (Photo: Wikimedia from Archives M&M Brest 2Fi06405)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
D'Estaing (2nd class cruiser) on the Charente in 1894. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 4.9.2021 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_322)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
Nielly (2nd class cruiser, wood hull) on the ways at Brest with flags ready for launching. She is on one of the cales (shipways) de la Boucherie that were built in the 1830s in an upriver extension of the arsenal that was fortified in 1777. (Photo: Wikimedia from Archives M&M Brest 2Fi06381)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
The bow of Nielly (2nd class cruiser) on the ways at Brest. (Photo: Wikimedia from Archives M&M Brest 2Fi06375)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
Nielly (2nd class cruiser) with flags ready for launching on one of the cales de la Boucherie in the upriver portion of the Brest dockyard. Alongside her is a shiphouse for Amiral Baudin, also on a cale de la Boucherie and one for Terrible on a cale du Bocage. Also visible are Bretagne (i) in the foreground in the early stages of dismantlement, the prison hulk Veilleur ex Duquesne, and the barbette covers on the recently launched Bayard. The building beyond the arsenal wall is the Bouguen prison. (Photo: Wikimedia from Archives M&M Brest 2Fi06383)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
Nielly (2nd class cruiser). (Photo: Facebook by V. Yakubov on 8.12.2023)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
Primauguet (2nd class cruiser). (Photo: Facebook by V. Yakubov on 7.6.2023)
Class: Lapérouse (1875)
Primauguet (2nd class cruiser) at Rochefort in 1886. She is alongside one of six former frigates then in use in the Charente as mooring hulks. (Photo: Facebook by A. Myatishkin on 31.10.2022 and Wikimedia from SHD Rochefort MR_5_G_720)