Baliste was a Arquebuse-class destroyer contre-torpilleur d'escadre built for the French Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

Completed in 1904, the ship was initially assigned to the Northern Squadron (Escadre du Nord).

They carried enough coal to give them a range of 2,300 nautical miles (4,300 km; 2,600 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

They were fitted with two single rotating mounts for 381-millimeter (15 in) torpedo tubes on the centerline, one between the funnels and the other on the stern.

[1] Baliste (Ballista) was ordered from Ateliers et Chantiers de Saint-Nazaire Penhoët on 29 May 1901 and the ship was laid down on 20 November 1902 at its shipyard in Rouen-Grand Quévilly.