During this period, she was occupied with routine peacetime training exercises with the rest of the main French fleets in home waters.

D'Assas passed the next several years uneventfully and was struck from the naval register in 1910; she was then used as a storage hulk before being sold to ship breakers in 1914.

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

[1][2] Their design was heavily drawn from that of the preceding Friant-class cruisers, being slightly longer and wider, which improved speed and stability.

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

They were placed in individual pivot mounts; one was on the forecastle, two were in sponsons abreast the forward conning tower, and the last was on the stern.

[2][6] D'Assas was ordered on 15 November 1893 and was laid down at the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Nantes on 1 April 1894.

The ships conducted a simulated bombardment of the port, neutralized the coastal defenses, and put some 6,000 men ashore.

The cruiser, meanwhile, had to stop for repairs in Algiers in French Algeria and then again at Lubang Buaya in the Dutch East Indies.

D'Assas and Gueydon took off her crew and began salvage efforts, but the cruiser could not be pulled free, and eventually broke in two.

[15][16] Throughout her time in East Asian waters, D'Assas was plagued with repeated machinery problems, and by early 1906 the decision was made to recall her to France.

The French Naval Minister, Gaston Thomson, suggested that D'Assas be converted into a fast minelayer on 24 September 1907,[6] along with her sister ship Cassard.