Lapérouse-class cruiser

The Lapérouse class was a group of four wooden-hulled unprotected cruisers of the French Navy built in the mid-1870s and early 1880s. The class comprised Lapérouse—the lead ship—D'Estaing, Nielly, and Primauguet. They were designed to operate overseas in the French colonial empire, and they were ordered as part of a construction program intended to strengthen the fleet after the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. They carried a main battery of fifteen 138.6 mm (5.46 in) guns, had a top speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph), and had a full ship rig to supplement their steam engines during lengthy voyages abroad.

All four ships of the class were sent to East Asia during the Tonkin campaign, which led to the Sino-French War, in the mid-1880s. D'Estaing saw action at the Battle of Fuzhou, the Keelung campaign, the Battle of Tamsui, and the Pescadores campaign, while Nielly took part in the Battle of Shipu. Lapérouse participated in the blockade of Formosa, along with her other two sisters, but Primauguet arrived too late to take part in operations against Chinese forces. In 1895, Primauguet served as the flagship of the Indian Ocean division during the Second Madagascar expedition, which resulted in the conquest of Madagascar. Lapérouse was wrecked at Madagascar in 1898, and the three remaining members of the class were withdrawn from service in 1900–1901. Nielly and D'Estaing were broken up soon after being removed from service, but Primauguet remained in use as a hulk until 1907, when she too was sold for scrap.