The ships were intended for coastal operations, and as such had a shallow draft and a low freeboard, which greatly hampered their seakeeping and thus reduced their ability to be usefully employed after entering service.

The Terrible class of barbette ships was designed in the late 1870s as part of a naval construction program that began under the post-Franco-Prussian War fleet plan of 1872.

In addition, the oldest generation of French ironclads, built in the early-to-mid 1860s, were in poor condition and necessitated replacement.

Ships of the class were based on the Amiral Baudin-class ironclads, but reduced in size to allow them to operate in shallower waters.

[1] After entering service, the Terrible-class ships were found to have very poor seakeeping as a result of their shallow draft and insufficient freeboard, even in the relatively sheltered waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

The Navy had little use for the ships, and through the 1880s and 1890s, a series of French naval ministers sought to find a role for the vessels, along with another ten coastal-defense type ironclads built during that period.

[3][4] Her propulsion machinery consisted of two compound steam engines that drove a pair of screw propellers.

[3][5] Her main armament consisted of two 420 mm (17 in) 19.35-caliber M1875 guns, one forward and one aft, mounted on the centerline in barbettes.

[3][5] Terrible was modernized several times during her career, primarily in attempts to correct deficiencies in her design that stemmed from excessive weights.

The first refit took place at Toulon between November 1898 and January 1899, and involved replacing her original boilers with twelve new models.

In trials carried out in February 1899, Terrible reached 4,238 ihp (3,160 kW) for a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph).

[8] Terrible was activated on 23 August for the annual fleet maneuvers, though she was delayed somewhat by a shortage of propellant charges for her guns.

[9] By the early 1890s, Terrible and her sister ships had been reduced to the Reserve Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet, which was based in Toulon.

During this period, the ships were maintained in a state of inactivity with half or two-thirds of their normal crews, only being mobilized for the annual training maneuvers with the rest of the fleet.

[10] During the fleet maneuvers of 1891, which began on 23 June, Terrible was mobilized along with her sisters Caïman and Indomptable and five other ironclads.

[10] By the following year, the unit was again revised, now consisting of Caïman, Terrible, Amiral Duperré, and the ironclads Friedland and Dévastation.

Since a number of older vessels were being rebuilt at that time, the only other capital ship in the squadron was the ironclad Magenta.

[22] By 1903, all four of the Terrible-class ironclads had been removed from service, their place in the Reserve Squadron having been taken by the pre-dreadnought battleships that had been built in the 1890s.