Intended for service in the French colonial empire, she was designed as a "station ironclad", which were smaller versions of the first-rate vessels built for the main fleet.

The Bayard 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.

The Bayard class was intended to serve in the second role, and they were based on the high-seas ironclad Amiral Duperré, albeit a scaled-down version.

The ship was protected with wrought iron armor; her belt was 150 to 250 mm (5.9 to 9.8 in) thick and extended for the entire length of the hull.

[7] The ship was deployed overseas in 1885 to join the Escadre de l'Extrême-Orient (Far East Squadron) to reinforce the unit during the Sino-French War.

Over the course of the ship's tour abroad over the next five years, she cruised extensively through East Asia, visiting numerous foreign ports,[8][9] and served as the flagship of the squadron.

[10] By 1889, the unit consisted of Turenne, the flagship, the old unprotected cruiser Villars, the aviso Chasseur, and the gunboats Vipère and Aspic.

Turenne embarked on her final such tour on 14 August 1889 in company with Vipère, stopping in Chefoo, China, and then Nagasaki, Japan, by 13 September.

Five days later, the two ships departed to return to French Indochina, stopping first in Along Bay on 17 December and then proceeding to Saigon on 4 January 1890.

[12] In 1896, the contemporary journal The Naval Annual noted that the ship, along with the other station ironclads still in the French inventory, was "practically condemned" and would "shortly be struck off the list".