Completed in 1898, Catinat initially served with the Northern Squadron, where she conducted training exercises with the rest of the unit.

The plan called for a total of seventy cruisers for use in home waters and overseas in the French colonial empire.

These were supported by a secondary battery of ten 100 mm (3.9 in) guns, which were carried in sponsons, casemates, and pivot mounts.

She then sailed to Brest on 1 June to join the Escadre du Nord (Northern Squadron), where she replaced the cruiser Friant.

[7][8] Catinat entered service in time to participate in the annual fleet maneuvers with the Northern Squadron in July and August 1898.

The exercises took part in three stages; the first, a simulated blockade of the Baie de Douarnenez ended in the squadron's failure to contain the cruiser Surcouf and nine torpedo boats.

[9] While cruising off Boulogne on 17 August, the coastal defense ship Valmy ran aground and Catinat, the next vessel astern, was unable to turn in time to avoid colliding with her.

[12] By January 1901, Catinat had been reactivated and assigned to the Naval Division of the Indian Ocean, which also included the unprotected cruisers D'Estaing and Nielly and the gunboat Scorpion.

[8] On 15 February 1905, she was recommissioned at Lorient for another tour overseas, this time to France's colonial holdings in the Pacific Ocean.

[17] She remained in the unit in 1907, by which time it had been amalgamated into the Far East Division, though Catinat continued to patrol France's colonies in the Pacific.

[19] That year, the independent Pacific Naval Division was reestablished, with Catinat as its flagship; the unit also included the sloop Kersaint, the gunboat Zélée, and a pair of transports.