Jules Ferry was the second of three Léon Gambetta-class armored cruisers built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) during the first decade of the 20th century.

The cruisers carried enough coal to give them a range of 7,500 nautical miles (13,900 km; 8,600 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[2] The main battery of the Léon Gambetta class consisted of four 194-millimeter Modèle 1893–1896 guns mounted in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure.

[1] The ship was named after Jules Ferry, the former Prime Minister of France, and Jean Marie Antoine de Lanessan, Minister of the Navy, ordered the Arsenal de Cherbourg to begin work on the ship on 28 June 1900 in compliance with the recently passed Naval Law (Statut Naval).

Jules Ferry was replaced as the 1st DL's flagship by Léon Gambetta by 4 April 1911 She had been transferred to the 2nd DL of the newly formed 2nd Squadron by 4 September when she temporarily served as the flagship of Vice Admiral Horace Jauréguiberry during the fleet review by Armand Fallières, President of France, and the Navy Minister, Théophile Delcassé, that day off Toulon.

The following day the cruisers were part of the escorting force for a troop convoy from Algiers, French Algeria to Metropolitan France.

On 13 August Vice Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, commander of the Allied forces in the Central Mediterranean, was ordered to begin offensive operations against the Austro-Hungarian fleet in the Adriatic.

The 2nd DL escorted the cargo ship SS Henri Fraissinet as it brought long-range artillery pieces to Antivari on 18–19 September.

During the following mission, begun at the end of October, the 2nd DL raided the island of Lastovo on 2 November and Jules Ferry was narrowly missed by U-5, an Austro-Hungarian U-boat, on the return voyage the following day.

Boué de Lapeyrère, concerned about a possible pre-emptive attack on the southern Italian ports, temporarily moved all of his armored cruisers, including the three sisters, closer to the Strait of Otranto that day.

After the sinking, Boué de Lapeyrère withdrew his armored cruisers even further south to a patrol line running through the Gerogombos lighthouse on the island of Cephalonia.

After the Italian declaration of war on 23 May, the French ships withdrew further into the Mediterranean and Ionian Seas with the 2nd DL ultimately basing itself at Alexandria, Egypt, Bizerte, French Tunisia, and British Malta; the division was responsible for patrolling the area between Capo Colonna in southern Italy and the easternmost point of the Greek island of Crete.

The Royal Serbian Army was deemed fit for combat in May and the French armored cruisers provided distant cover for the transfer to the Salonica front until it was completed on 15 June.

On 12 August, the 2nd DL was disbanded with Jules Ferry assigned to transport duties for the next year and her other sister, Victor Hugo, was reduced to reserve.