The resulting design was ordered for two vessels, Dévastation and Courbet, which were the largest central battery ships ever built by any navy.

[4] The ship was protected with wrought iron armor; her belt was 178 to 381 mm (7 to 15 in) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull.

During her trials, her crew found the vessel difficult to steer, owing to the combination of a single rudder and two propellers and her flat bottom.

Between December 1882 and June 1883, hydraulic mountings for the main battery guns were installed to make them easier for the crew to work.

[7] In 1886, the ship was assigned to the training squadron,[8] and on 2–3 March 1886, she took part in experiments with torpedo boats to determine the effectiveness of various attack angles.

They fired at a range of 2,700 to 4,600 m (3,000 to 5,000 yd) and scored 22 percent hits with cast iron practice shells, though they conducted the test under unrealistic conditions, with Armide anchored in a calm sea.

[11] Another major set of exercises was held from 2 to 12 June at Ajaccio on the island of Corsica; Dévastation and several other ironclads simulated a fleet attacking the port, which was defended by a coastal defense ship, three cruisers, and twenty torpedo boats.

During these exercises, the ironclads simulated an enemy fleet passing through the Strait of Gibraltar to attack the French Mediterranean coast; torpedo boats attempted to intercept them off Majorca.

From the year's maneuvers, the French concluded that the torpedo boats of the day were not sufficiently powerful enough to achieve any of the goals that had been assigned to them, particularly further from coast, but nevertheless still posed significant threats to blockading warships.

Dévastation, Redoutable, Trident, and Richelieu were assigned to serve as simulated troop ships, escorted by Courbet, Colbert, Amiral Duperré, and the ironclad Indomptable.

The exercises concluded with a simulated amphibious landing at Hyères carried out by the enemy squadron on 6 July, which the defending force was unable to prevent.

The enemy squadron conducted a simulated attack on Toulon that night, but poor weather prevented further operations and the maneuvers were cancelled later on the 24th.

The maneuvers began on 23 June and lasted until 11 July, during which Dévastation operated as part of the simulated hostile force that attempted to attack the southern French coast.

[19] Dévastation remained in service with the Mediterranean Fleet through 1895, by which time the unit consisted of Courbet, the two Amiral Baudins, and the three Marceaus, along with several cruisers and torpedo vessels.

[23] By 1897, Dévastation had been reduced to the Reserve Squadron of the French fleet, which also included the ironclad Caïman, Terrible, Amiral Duperré, and Friedland.

[27] In 1899, the ship was modernized extensively, receiving new water-tube boilers, a revised armament, and a pair of new masts with fighting tops in place of her original three.

She was taken under tow on 7 May 1922 along with the old coastal defense ship Tonnerre, but while she was leaving Lorient, Dévastation ran hard aground and could not be immediately freed.