 On 6 January 1896 , Amiral Charner became the flagship of the Higher Naval War College ( École supérieure de guerre de la marine ) , commanding her sister ship Latouche @-@ Tréville and the protected cruiser Suchet . The mission of the school was to prepare officers for command at sea and for service on staffs . Ten months later , she was reassigned back to the active fleet on 20 October . The ship was sent to Crete on 10 February 1897 as part of the French contingent of the International Squadron deployed there during the Greco @-@ Turkish War to protect Western interests and citizens and remained with the squadron until November 1898 . Amiral Charner was reassigned to the college on 1 January 1899 together with the protected cruisers Friant and Davout . She was detached to the Northern Squadron ( Escadre du Nord ) , based at Brest , for the first half of the year before returning to Toulon in late June . Three months later , the ship returned to Brest and was temporarily placed in reserve . 
