How range changed French cruiser roles by theater

The cruising ranges of the Duguay-Trouin, Suffren, and La Galissonnière families show how endurance followed intended employment. In a western Mediterranean war, light cruisers and destroyers would lead rapid attacks on Italian commerce while heavy cruisers and capital ships formed the supporting fleet-in-being. Outside the Mediterranean, the hierarchy reversed. Heavy cruisers and fast capital ships would lead Atlantic raider-hunting groups or deploy toward the Far East because those units added the most visible combat weight to an allied fleet. Range was therefore evidence of how France expected each force package to operate and gain coalition influence, rather than a generic performance statistic.