Casabianca was the third and final member of the D'Iberville class of torpedo cruisers built for the French Navy in the 1890s.

The D'Iberville-class ships were a development of earlier torpedo cruisers, with the chief improvement being a significantly higher speed.

She was later converted into a minelayer in 1913, and served in this capacity during World War I. Casabianca accidentally struck one of her own mines during an operation off Smyrna on 3 June 1915, sinking with the loss of half of her crew.

The ship's propulsion system consisted of a pair of triple-expansion steam engines driving two screw propellers.

[5] The keel for Casabiana was laid down at the Forges et Chantiers de la Gironde shipyard in Lormont in January 1894, the last member of the class to begin construction.

[11] She participated in the 1902 fleet maneuvers, which occurred in three phases, though Casabianca was only involved in the last stage.

[4] Casabianca was assigned to the Groupe de mouilleurs de mines (Minelayer Group) by the start of World War I in August 1914, along with her similar converted sister ship Cassini and the converted minelayer La Hire.

[15] From the start of the conflict through mid-1915, Casabianca patrolled the Strait of Otranto and off Corfu at the southern end of the Adriatic Sea.

The ship struck a naval mine she had laid herself off Smyrna and sank on 3 June during operations against the Ottoman Empire.