two years after that and the ship began sea trials in 1896. After completing those, the ship was commissioned into the fleet in July 1897. By that time, her name had been shortened to Carnot, to honor her original namesake as well as his grandson Marie François Sadi Carnot, who had been President of France until his assassination on 25 June 1894. Immediately on entering service, she and her half-sisters Charles Martel and Jauréguiberry were sent to join the International Squadron that had been assembled beginning in February. The multinational force also included ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the Imperial German Navy, the Italian Regia Marina, the Imperial Russian Navy, and the British Royal Navy, and it was sent to intervene in the 1897–1898 Greek uprising on Crete against rule by the Ottoman Empire. Carnot spent the majority of her active career alternating between the Northern and Mediterranean Squadrons. The newer battleships typically served in the Mediterranean, while older vessels were assigned to the Northern Squadron. In January 1900, she was assigned to the Northern Squadron, under the command of Vice Admiral Ménard, replacing . In July, she and the other Northern Squadron ships met with the Mediterranean Squadron off the coast of Portugal and then steamed to Quiberon Bay for joint training exercises. The maneuvers concluded with a naval review in Cherbourg on 19 July for President Émile Loubet. By 1902, Carnot had been transferred to the Reserve Squadron of the Mediterranean Squadron, along with the battleships Brennus, Charles Martel, and and the three armored cruisers , , and . The Reserve Squadron was commanded by Rear Admiral Besson, who flew his flag in Brennus. The entire French fleet, including Carnot, conducted extensive maneuvers in the Mediterranean in July and August of that year. Carnot and Bouvet were transferred back to the Northern Squadron in 1904. Carnot was still serving with the Northern Squadron in 1906, when she participated in the annual summer maneuvers in June–July that year. The following year, Carnot was back in the Mediterranean in the Second Squadron. She remained in the Second Squadron through 1911. On 5 January 1911, Carnot and rest of the Second Squadron was transferred to Brest. Later that year, as the s began to enter service, the ships of the Second Squadron became the new Third Squadron as the Dantons displaced the ships of the First Squadron to the Second Squadron,