Completed in 1897, she was a member of a group of five broadly similar battleships ordered as part of the French response to a major British naval construction program.

Charles Martel spent just five years in the active squadron, having been surpassed by more modern battleships during a period of rapid developments in naval technology.

The first stage of the program was to be a group of four squadron battleships that were built to different designs but met the same basic characteristics, including armor, armament, and displacement.

The naval high command issued the basic requirements on 24 December 1889; displacement would not exceed 14,000 metric tons (13,779 long tons), the primary armament was to consist of 34-centimeter (13.4 in) and 27 cm (10.6 in) guns, the belt armor should be 45 cm (17.7 in), and the ships should maintain a top speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).

Though the program called for four ships to be built in the first year, five were ultimately ordered: Charles Martel, Carnot, Jauréguiberry, Bouvet, and Masséna.

[5] The new Charles Martel and her half-sisters were disappointments in service; they generally suffered from stability problems, and Louis-Émile Bertin, the Director of Naval Construction in the late 1890s, referred to the ships as chavirables (prone to capsizing).

During her sea trials on 5 May 1897, Charles Martel reached a speed of 18.13 knots (33.6 km/h; 20.9 mph) from 14,997 metric horsepower (11,030 kW).

The ship could carry a maximum of 908 t (894 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 2,218 nautical miles (4,108 km; 2,552 mi) at a speed of 13.81 knots (25.6 km/h; 15.9 mph).

[11] Charles Martel's main armament consisted of two 45-caliber Canon de 305 mm Modèle 1887 guns in two single-gun turrets, one each fore and aft of the superstructure.

[12][14] Her secondary armament consisted of eight 45-caliber Canon de 138 mm (5.4 in) Modèle 1888-91 guns which were mounted in single-gun turrets at the corners of the superstructure.

The five-barrel 37 mm revolving guns had a rate of fire of twenty to twenty-five rounds per minute and a range of 2,000 m (2,200 yd).

Charles Martel was initially equipped with Modèle 1892 torpedoes that had a 75-kilogram (165 lb) warhead and a range of 800 m (870 yd) at a speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

[7] Above the belt was a 100 mm (3.9 in) thick strake of armor that created a highly-subdivided cofferdam to reduce the risk of flooding from battle damage.

In October they were interrupted so that the battleship could participate in a naval review in Cherbourg with President Félix Faure and Tsar Nicholas II.

While conducting torpedo trials on 21 December, Charles Martel struck an uncharted rock that bent a propeller blade and slightly damaged the hull.

[22] While working up on 5 March, her rudder servomotor briefly declutched and the ship drifted onto a rock; damage was minimal and she began her voyage to Toulon three days later.

[23] On 6 August she became the flagship of Contre-amiral (Rear Admiral) Paul Dieulouard and took part in fleet maneuvers off Golfe-Juan and Les Salins d'Hyères the following month.

[24] During a gunnery exercise on 29 March 1898,[24] Charles Martel, together with her half-sisters Carnot, Jauréguiberry, and the older battleships Brennus and Marceau, sank the aviso Pétrel.

As tensions rose during the Fashoda Incident with Great Britain, the fleet mobilized on 18 October and sortied to Les Salins d'Hyères.

After repairs in Toulon in September, the ship joined the squadron in a cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean that lasted from 11 October to 21 December.

She was docked for maintenance in January 1900[26] and then joined the battleships Brennus, Gaulois, Charlemagne, Bouvet, and Jauréguiberry and four protected cruisers for maneuvers off Golfe-Juan, including night-firing training on 6 March.

During the fleet maneuvers held that June, Charles Martel led Group II, which included four cruisers and a pair of destroyers, under Roustan's command.

[27] On 26 September, Contre-amiral Charles Aubry de la Noé relived Roustan as the commander of the 2e Division cuirassée.

[29] On 10 May Marquis was transferred to a new job[28] and Charles Martel was transferred to the Division de réserve of the Escadre de la Méditerranée, along with the battleships Brennus, Carnot, and Hoche and the armored cruisers Pothuau, Amiral Charner, and Bruix as more modern ships had joined the fleet.

[28] The ship's hydraulic reloading machinery for the main and intermediate turrets was replaced by manual-loading gear in August 1911, which generally rendered her combat ineffective.

Together with her contemporaries Brennus, Carnot and Masséna, Charles Martel was decommissioned and hulked to serve as a barracks ship on 1 April 1914.

She was purchased for 675,000 francs on 20 December by the Dutch firm Frank Rijsdijk’s Industriële Ondernemingen N.V. and towed its ship breaking yard in Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht to begin demolition.