The ships began to be disposed of in the early 1880s, although several lingered on in subsidiary roles for another decade before they followed their sisters to the scrap yard.

The Provence class was designed by naval architect Henri Dupuy de Lôme as an enlarged version of the Gloire-class ironclads with thicker armor, more powerful guns, and better seakeeping qualities.

Available records of their sea trials show that they achieved speeds of 13.2–16.5 knots (24.4–30.6 km/h; 15.2–19.0 mph) from 2,918–3,895 metric horsepower (2,146–2,865 kW).

[4] The Provence class carried between 590–640 t (581–630 long tons) of coal[3] which allowed them to steam for 2,410 nautical miles (4,460 km; 2,770 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[6] They were fitted with a three-masted barque rig that had a sail area of 1,960 square meters (21,100 sq ft).