Valmy was the second member of the of coastal defense ships built for the French Navy () in the 1890s. Launched in 1892, the vessel joined the ( Northern Squadron of the French Navy) at Brest. Armed with a main armament of two guns, the vessel was designed within the principles of the . The ship served in the Northern Squadron, which Vice Admiral Armand Bernard called, "the most homogenous and dangerous squadron that one could meet at sea". Valmy took part in a large naval exercises in 1895 and 1896 but otherwise had an uneventful career as French naval doctrine moved from a fleet of smaller coastal defense ships to larger ocean-going battleships. The ship was decommissioned after 1909 and sold in 1911 to be broken up.
Design and description
Launched in 1883, Valmy was the second member of the of coastal defense ships designed by de Bussy for the French Navy () as part of a wider adoption of the principles of . The design was to have a similar level of armament, armour, draught and fuel storage as the preceding but with a more modern powerplant based on Belleville boilers that would provide an increase in speed to . The design proposal was accepted by the Board of Construction () on 26 February 1889, finalised on 2 July and approved by the Minister of the Navy () Jules François Émile Krantz on 6 July.
Valmy had an overall length of , at the waterline and between perpendiculars, a beam of at the waterline and a mean draught of at deep load. The vessel displaced and had a ship's complement that numbered 299 sailors of all ranks.
Valmy was powered by two triple-expansion steam engines that each drove one propeller shaft using steam provided by 16 Lagrafel and d'Allest Bellville boilers. The engine was rated at at 108 rpm. While undertaking sea trials, Valmy reached a speed of from . In service, speed was restricted as a bow wave was created at which, by became impossible to push forward, meaning this became the de facto maximum speed. The ship carried of coal, which gave a range of at a cruising speed of . The maximum load of coal was . Once in service, a range of at was claimed.
Valmy carried a main battery of two Canon de Modèle 1887 guns in a two single-gun turrets, one forward of the superstructure and the other aft. The guns were manually-loaded and fired one round every five minutes, but this was improved between 1900 and 1902 with new equipment. Secondary armament was provided by four 45-calibre M1891 QF guns mounted at the corners of the shelter deck. Defence from torpedo boats was provided by six Canon de Modèle 1885 Hotchkiss guns and eight Hotchkiss revolving cannon.
The ship had a full-length waterline armor belt that tapered from the maximum thickness of amidships to aft and forward. The belt was high amidships. The armor was hammered steel on the port side and compound armor on the starboard. The turrets were protected by thick compound armor that was mounted on fixed bases thick while the gun shields for the secondary armament was provided by hammered steel armor thick. The main deck was protected by thick iron plates. The laminated steel plates protecting the conning tower measured in thickness.
Construction and career Ordered on 18 December 1889 from Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire of Saint-Nazaire and Saint-Denis, Valmy was laid down later that year and launched on 6 October 1892. The vessel cost £578,957. The ship's machinery was fully installed on 15 March 1894 and accepted after trials on. Initially commissioned for trials in December 1894, Valmy had to wait until her machinery was accepted on 13 August the following year before being fully commissioned on 14 August. She joined the Northern Squadron () of the French Navy to replace the ironclad . On 12 March 1895, as part of the naval budget debate, Vice Admiral Armand Bernard declared that Valmy and her three companions formed "the most homogenous and dangerous squadron that one could meet at sea". They were considered more than equal to their smaller German contemporaries, the and .
Valmy had a generally uneventful career. Between 1 and 23 July 1895, the vessel took part in a large naval exercise in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Northern Squadron. The manoeuvres included a forced landing at Quiberon and a mock blockade and attack on Cherbourg and Rochefort. The vessel served as part of the defending force, which was successful in resisting the attack. The ship also took part in the maneuvers the following year, conducted from 6 to 26 July in conjunction with the local defense forces of Brest, Rochefort, Cherbourg, and Lorient. The squadron was divided into three divisions for the maneuvers, and Valmy was assigned to the 2nd Division along with her sister ship , the cruiser and the aviso , which represented part of the defending French squadron. At the end of the century, the vessel was part of the Coastal Defence Division alongside the ironclads , and Jemmapes.
Meanwhile, French naval doctrine was changing and the focus on coastal defense was being replaced by one of larger sea-going warships. The size of ships was also increasing, and newer, more capable battleships entered service. Valmy was transferred to reserve in 1903, being transferred to Brest between 1 and 2 September 1909. The vessel was ordered to be decommissioned on 11 October 1909 and struck on 1 July the following year. Valmy was sold on 20 July 1911 and broken up.
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