Dupleix-class armoured cruisers: battery and protection

What is the assessment of the Dupleix-class armoured cruisers?

They are judged reasonably good ships with a useful main battery and acceptable protection, although their secondary battery appears light.

The older Dupleix armoured-cruiser class is first distinguished from a later French cruiser sharing the name. Four twin 6.5-inch turrets are judged a reasonable main battery. With turrets forward, aft and on the wings, the arrangement allows six guns to bear on a broadside. Four single 100 mm secondary guns are considered a light battery, backed by ten single 47 mm weapons for torpedo-boat defence. The roughly four-inch belt is judged reasonable protection, while the identification of its armour as Harvey nickel is tentative. The suggestion that these ships began as smaller versions of Jeanne d'Arc is treated as a design starting point that does not fully describe the finished ships. The overall verdict is that they were reasonably good French armoured cruisers.