Du Chayla supported an amphibious landing in French Morocco in 1907 and Cassard joined her there the following year.

D'Assas was discarded in 1914, but the other two members of the class saw service during World War I, primarily patrolling the Atlantic for German commerce raiders.

In the late 1880s, the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) accelerated construction of ships for its fleet and reorganized the most modern ironclad battleships—the Duilio and Italia classes—into a fast squadron suitable for offensive operations.

To compound matters, the visit of a German squadron of four ironclads to Italy confirmed French concerns of a combined Italo-German fleet that would dramatically outnumber their own.

In addition to twenty-four new battleships, a total of seventy cruisers were to be built for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire.

[4][6] The ships' hulls featured a pronounced ram bow and a tumblehome shape, which were common characteristics of major French warships of the period.

The ships were fitted with a pair of pole masts with spotting tops for observation and signaling purposes.

Steam was provided by twenty coal-burning Lagrafel d'Allest water-tube boilers that were ducted into three funnels on the centerline amidships.

[1] Cassard and Du Chayla both lost much of their weaponry during World War I so the guns could be used in other vessels or ashore by the French Army.

[1] D'Assas and Cassard initially served with the Mediterranean Squadron after entering service in 1898, and they were joined by Du Chayla the following year.

[12] During this period, they were occupied with routine peacetime training exercises with the rest of the main French fleets in home waters.

[17] In August 1907, Du Chayla supported an amphibious assault in French Morocco during the Bombardment of Casablanca.

[20] At the start of World War I in August 1914, Cassard initially operated out of Morocco, patrolling for German U-boats.

[20] In September, Cassard bombarded local villages in Morocco to suppress challenges to French colonial rule.

She took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1919 but was recalled to France in 1920, where she was struck from the naval register in 1921 and sold to ship breakers.

In the meantime, Cassard was partially disarmed after World War I and was converted into a gunnery training ship, though she was struck from the register in 1924 and sold for scrap.