It was slightly longer and heavier than the previous class, and while it had a similar machinery layout, with 28 boilers supplying vertical triple-expansion steam engines which drove three propeller shafts, the engines delivered 1,500 ihp (1,100 kW) more power, allowing the ship to reach a design speed of 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph).

[2] After entering service, Jules Michelet was assigned to the cruiser squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, based in Toulon.

[3] On 27 June 1912, Jules Michelet suffered two gun explosions during firing practice at Toulon, killing four and wounding 21.

[6] The French ships, along with a flotilla of twelve destroyers, were to steam to Philippeville on 4 August, but the German cruisers had bombarded the port the previous day.

[6] The fleet, commanded by Admiral Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère, had assembled by the night of 15 August; the following morning, it conducted a sweep into the Adriatic and encountered the Austro-Hungarian cruiser SMS Zenta.

[9] Following the signing of the Armistice of Mudros, ending the participation of Turkey in the First World War, Jules Michelet was deployed through the Dardanelles into the Black Sea in November 1918.

Jules Michelet was deployed to Indochina for a lengthier stay as the flagship of the Far East squadron in the late 1920s; she left France on 15 June 1925 and arrived in July.