Jean Bart was a protected cruiser of the Jean Bart class built for the French Navy in the late 1880s and early 1890s. The lead ship the class of two ships, Jean Bart and her sister ship were ordered during the tenure of Admiral Théophile Aube as Minister of Marine according to the theories of the Jeune École doctrine. The ships were intended as long-range commerce raiders, and they were armed with a main battery of four 164 mm (6.5 in) guns, were protected by an armor deck that was 50 to 100 mm thick, and were capable of steaming at a top speed of 19.5 knots.

The Jean Bart class comprised two protected cruisers of the French Navy built in the late 1880s and early 1890s; the two ships were Jean Bart and Isly. They were ordered as part of a fleet program that accorded with the theories of the Jeune École, which proposed a fleet based on cruisers and torpedo boats to defend France. The Jean Bart-class cruisers were intended to serve a long-range commerce raiders to attack enemy merchant shipping. The ships were armed with a main battery of four 164 mm (6.5 in) guns supported by six 138 mm (5.4 in) guns and they had a top speed of 19 to 19.5 knots.