and es, intended for overseas deployments in the French colonial empire, were scaled down versions of Amiral Duperré. Characteristics Amiral Duperré was long at the waterline and long overall, with a beam of and a draft of aft. She displaced . Her hull featured a pronounced ram bow and had a short forecastle deck that extended from the stem to the forward main battery guns. A small conning tower was placed between the forward barbettes and a secondary tower was placed aft, between the stern barbettes. Her hull was divided by sixteen watertight transverse bulkheads and several longitudinal bulkheads. Her transverse metacentric height was about . She was fitted with three pole masts equipped with spotting tops for her main battery guns, and she carried two searchlights. The crew consisted of 712 officers and enlisted men. Her propulsion machinery consisted of two vertical compound steam engines with three cylinders apiece, each driving a screw propeller, with steam provided by twelve coal-burning fire-tube boilers. The boilers were vented through a pair of large funnels located side-by-side just aft of the conning tower. Her engines were rated to produce . On her initial trials conducted in 1882, her engines reached a maximum of for a top speed of . Coal storage amounted to . At a cruising speed of , the ship could steam for . Amiral Duperré was designed with a three-masted schooner rig to supplement the steam engines, though it was removed before she was completed. Her main armament consisted of four , 18-caliber guns mounted in individual barbette mounts, two side-by-side forward, one amidships, and one aft, the latter pair on the centerline. These guns had a very low rate of fire between seven and fifteen minutes. They were operated with a pressurized water mechanism that worked the training and elevation gear. The guns had to return to the centerline to be reloaded, and only one gun could be moved at a time. The main battery was supported by a secondary battery of one and fourteen guns, all carried in individual pivot mounts. The 163 mm gun was placed in the bow as a chase gun, while the 138 mm weapons were located in an unarmored gun battery in the main deck, seven guns per broadside. All of these guns had a very limited firing arc. For defense against torpedo boats, she carried twelve 1-pounder Hotchkiss revolver cannon, all