In 1884, she was sent to Southeast Asia to strengthen French naval forces during the Sino-French War, where she saw action at the Battle of Shipu in February 1885.

The two ships of the Rigault de Genouilly class were ordered under the auspices of the naval plan of 1872, which was laid out to modernize the French Navy in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871.

The third-class unprotected cruisers were to fulfill multiple functions, including fleet scouts in home waters and as patrol vessels for the French colonial empire abroad.

[5][7] By that time, the squadron included the ironclad warships La Galissonnière (the flagship) and Triomphante, the unprotected cruisers Duguay-Trouin, Villars, D'Estaing, Volta, Nielly, Champlain, Rigault de Genouilly, and the gunboat Lutin.

[9] In January 1885, Courbet received word that elements of the Chinese Nanyang Fleet under Admiral Wu Ankang had sortied and were steaming south to try to break the blockade of Formosa.

Accordingly, he assembled a force that included Éclaireur, the ironclads Bayard and Triomphante, the cruiser Nielly, and the gunboat Aspic, along with a supporting transport.

Courbet initially believed the Chinese squadron would attempt to reach Fuzhou via the Min river and sought to block their path on 6 February.

They arrived there four days later to find the harbor empty, so the French steamed further north to search the mouth of the Yangtze river.

Wu's squadron consisted of the unprotected cruisers Kai Chi, Nan Chen, and Nan Shui, the steam frigate Yuyuen, and the sloop Teng Ching; he had initially sought battle with the French, but upon realizing the superiority of Courbet's squadron, Wu decided to detach the slower Yuyuen and Teng Ching to seek shelter in Shipu, while his faster cruisers fled south.

Courbet ordered his ships to steam at least 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph) to try to catch Wu's cruisers, but Triomphante and Aspic could not keep this speed and so he sent them to blockade Yuyuen and Teng Ching in Shipu.

Courbet continued his pursuit of Wu with Nielly, Éclaireur, and Bayard, but he soon realized that he could not catch the Chinese ships, which were capable of 14 to 15 knots (26 to 28 km/h; 16 to 17 mph), and so he rejoined the rest of his squadron at Shipu at around 13:00.

With the knowledge gained, he sent a pair of launches armed with spar torpedoes on the night of 14–15 February to attack the two Chinese vessels, sinking them both.

[13] After the war, the French began drawing down their naval strength in the region, and Éclaireur and the cruiser Villars returned to France.

She was assigned to the defending squadron, alongside the ironclad Suffren, the coastal defense ships Requin and Fulminant, and the protected cruiser Surcouf.

[3] By 1897, Éclaireur had returned for another deployment to East Asia, where she served with Bayard and the new protected cruisers Isly and Descartes.