They were ordered during a period of intense debate in the French fleet between officers who favored large armored cruisers and those who preferred smaller vessels more suited to long-distance cruising abroad.

D'Estrées and Infernet initially served in the Northern Squadron after entering service in the late 1890s, though they were quickly transferred elsewhere.

In the 1880s and 1890s, factions in the French Navy's officer corps argued over the types of cruiser that best served France's interests.

In 1896, the Conseil supérieur de la Marine (Superior Naval Council) ordered the two cruisers of the D'Estrées class for the construction program that was to begin that year at the behest of the colonialists for use in the French overseas empire.

[3] The ships' hulls included a ram bow and an overhanging stern, but unlike other French cruisers of the period, they lacked a double bottom or a longitudinal bulkhead.

Below the waterline, they were covered with a layer of wood and copper sheathing to protect them from biofouling on extended voyages overseas, where they would not have reliable access to shipyard facilities.

[3] The ships' propulsion system consisted of a pair of vertical triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers.

[6] Warship International, citing the 1905 Marine Almanac, credits the class with a cruising radius of just 4,500 nmi (8,300 km; 5,200 mi) at 10 knots.

[17][18] Infernet's career was cut short when she was stricken on 9 March 1910,[19] and subsequently sold for demolition; she was stranded off Les Sables-d'Olonne on 16 November 1910 on delivery to the scrapyard in Germany and broken up in situ.

[19][20][21][10] At the start of World War I in August 1914, D'Estrées was initially assigned to the 2nd Light Squadron, which was based in the English Channel, but was quickly transferred to reinforce the Syrian Division for operations against the Ottoman Empire.

[24][25] She was moved to the Red Sea in 1916, where she patrolled for the German commerce raider SMS Wolf, which was known to be operating in the Indian Ocean.