Du Chayla was a protected cruiser built for the French Navy in the 1890s; she was a member of the D'Assas class.

Du Chayla took part in the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War in 1919 but was recalled to France in 1920, where she was struck from the naval register in 1921 and sold to ship breakers.

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.

There, she joined the Escadre de la Méditerranée (Mediterranean Squadron), France's primary battle fleet.

On 6 March, Du Chayla joined several pre-dreadnought battleships and the cruisers Cassard, Lavoisier, and Galilée for maneuvers off Golfe-Juan on the Côte d'Azur, including night firing training.

The maneuvers included a blockade conducted by Group II in late June, and after completing its own exercises, the Mediterranean Squadron rendezvoused with the Northern Squadron off Lisbon, Portugal, in late June before proceeding to Quiberon Bay for joint maneuvers in July.

[13] During the 1902 fleet maneuvers, which began on 7 July, the Northern Squadron attempted to force a passage through the Strait of Gibraltar.

The cruisers of the Mediterranean Squadron, including Du Chayla, conducted patrols from their base at Mers El Kébir to observe their entrance and signal the rest of the fleet.

[20] She took part in the fleet maneuvers that year, which began on 6 July with the concentration of the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons in Algiers.

The maneuvers were conducted in the western Mediterranean, alternating between ports in French North Africa and Toulon and Marseilles, France, and concluding on 4 August.

[24] Rebels in French Morocco had seized control of the city and murdered several Europeans, which led to a request for support.

While the men were fighting their way to the French consulate, Galilée was joined by Du Chayla, and the two cruisers then bombarded the port and the fortress in the city, killing around 200.

By December 1925, Du Chayla had been replaced in that role by the old aviso Vauquois, and she was taken to Lorient, where she was employed as a landing hulk for the oil depot in the port.

The ship was eventually placed for sale on 29 March 1933, being purchased on 15 November to a ship-breaking firm based in Saint-Nazaire; she was towed there in December and scrapped.