The ship made a second deployment to East Asia in 1905, later being briefly stationed in Madagascar in 1907, before returning for a tour with the Mediterranean Squadron that year.

She joined the unsuccessful search for the German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe in August, and spent the next three years patrolling the West Indies.

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

[1][2] The design for the Descartes class was based on the earlier cruiser Davout, but was enlarged to incorporate a more powerful gun armament.

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

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

[7] Descartes was built by the Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire shipyard in Nantes;[4] she was ordered on 17 August 1892 and her keel was laid down in late January 1893.

On 28 August, she sailed to Cherbourg to be present for the visit of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia the following day.

[9][10] With the beginning of the unrest in 1898 that led to the Boxer Uprising in Qing China, many European colonial powers began to reinforce their naval forces in East Asia.

The French squadron was accordingly strengthened by Descartes's sister ship Pascal, Jean Bart, and the unprotected cruiser Duguay-Trouin; the latter two replaced Isly and Éclaireur.

[11] Descartes remained in East Asian waters in 1899, along with Pascal and Duguay-Trouin, though Jean Bart was recalled home.

[13] Descartes and Pascal had been deployed to East Asia by January 1901 as part of the response to the Boxer Uprising; at that time, seven other cruisers were assigned to the station in addition to the two Descartes-class ships.

[5][16] In May 1906, Descartes visited Nanking, laying there on the 18th in company with the Italian cruiser Calabria and the German gunboat SMS Vorwärts.

During the year, Descartes was detached from the main squadron to patrol the East Indies,[18] based in Madagascar.

Descartes and Condé had been at Veracruz, Mexico, on 30 July when they were recalled home as World War I broke out in Europe.

The ship was then converted into a mooring hulk, replacing the old armored cruiser Dupuy de Lôme on 28 August 1918.