Valmy was the second member of the Jemmapes class of coastal defense ships built for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) in the 1890s.

Launched in 1883, Valmy was the second member of the Jemmapes class of coastal defense ships designed by de Bussy for the French Navy (Marine Nationale) as part of a wider adoption of the principles of Jeune École.

The design was to have a similar level of armament, armour, draught and fuel storage as the preceding French ironclad Furieux but with a more modern powerplant based on Belleville boilers that would provide an increase in speed to 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph).

[3] Valmy carried a main battery of two Canon de 274 mm (10.8 in) Modèle 1887 guns in a two single-gun turrets, one forward of the superstructure and the other aft.

[1] Ordered on 18 December 1889 from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire of Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Denis, Valmy was laid down later that year and launched on 6 October 1892.

[4] On 12 March 1895, as part of the naval budget debate, Vice Admiral Armand Bernard declared that Valmy and her three companions formed "the most homogenous and dangerous squadron that one could meet at sea".

[9] The ship also took part in the maneuvers the following year, conducted from 6 to 26 July in conjunction with the local defense forces of Brest, Rochefort, Cherbourg, and Lorient.

[10] At the end of the century, the vessel was part of the Coastal Defence Division alongside the ironclads Amiral Tréhouart, Bouvines and Jemmapes.

[11] Meanwhile, French naval doctrine was changing and the focus on coastal defense was being replaced by one of larger sea-going warships.