Forfait was an unprotected cruiser of the built for the French Navy in the 1870s. The ships were designed for service in the French colonial empire, and they carried a relatively heavy battery of fifteen guns, and could steam at a speed of . The ship was laid down in 1876 and she was completed in 1880. The following year, Forfait was sent to the Indian Ocean, and in 1883–1885, she took part in the First Madagascar expedition, France's first attempt to conquer Madagascar. During the conflict, she bombarded forces loyal to the Merina Kingdom and helped to institute a blockade of ports controlled by the Merina government. Forfait returned to France in 1886, was modernized in 1888, and was deployed to French Indochina from 1892 to 1896. She was placed in reserve after returning to France in 1896, converted into a hulk, and used for storage 1914. She was eventually sold for scrap in 1920.
Design
The four ships of the were ordered under the auspices of the naval plan of 1872, which was laid out to modernize the French Navy in the aftermath of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. The navy sought new unprotected cruisers that carried a heavier armament than earlier vessels, while maintaining a similar size to keep costs from increasing during a period of limited naval budgets. The design for the ships was drawn up by Victorin Sabattier. The vessels were intended to serve overseas in the French colonial empire.
Forfait was long at the waterline, with a beam of and an average draft of . She displaced as designed. The ship had a ram bow and an overhanging stern. Her crew amounted to 264 officers and enlisted men. The ship's propulsion system consisted of a single compound steam engine driving a screw propeller. Steam was provided by six coal-burning fire-tube boilers that were ducted into a single funnel. Her machinery was rated to produce for a top speed of . At a more economical speed of , the ship could steam for .
The ship was armed with a main battery of fifteen M1870M 21.3-caliber guns. Two were placed in the forecastle, firing through embrasures as chase guns, one was atop the stern, and the remainder were placed in an amidships battery on the upper deck, six guns per broadside. Of the broadside guns, the forward three on each side were placed in sponsons, while the remaining three guns were in pivot mounts firing through embrasures. A pair of Hotchkiss revolver cannon provided close-range defense against torpedo boats. She also carried a pair of bronze mountain guns or a single field gun that could be sent ashore with a landing party.
Service history
The keel for Forfait was laid down at the shipyard in La Seyne-sur-Mer on 2 November 1876. She was launched on 6 February 1879, and was commissioned to begin sea trials on 1 September, though the ship was still not yet complete. Installation of her propulsion system, which had begun on 28 May, was not finished until 15 October. The ship thereafter carried out her initial testing, including full-power tests on 9 March 1880. She was pronounced completed the following month, and on 21 April, she was placed in the 2nd category of reserve. Forfait was reactivated on 14 August 1880 for further trials, after having had her original screw replaced. Further testing was carried out from 13 to 16 December.
Madagascar campaign
She lay out of service until 3 October 1881, when she was placed back in commission for a deployment to the Indian Ocean, where she was to replace La Clocheterie. In 1882, the French government decided to seize Madagascar as a colony, and the navy sent the cruiser with Admiral Pierre to lead an expedition to invade the island. By April 1883, Pierre had organized a squadron that included Forfait, Beautemps-Beaupré, and the cruisers and , the aviso , and the gunboat . On 7 May, Piere sent Forfait to Tamatave while he took the rest of his squadron to the Ampasindava Peninsula, where he started the First Madagascar expedition by bombarding government positions there. Pierre then sailed with the squadron to join Forfait at Tamatave, where on 1 June he issued an ultimatum, which the Merina government rejected on 9 June. The next day, the French consul in Tamatave boarded Forfait, after which Pierre ordered a bombardment of the city. The ships opened fire at around 06:30 and set fire to the town, and after thirty minutes, slowed their fire to one shell every five minutes. After 08:15, the rate of fire was slowed further to one shot per hour, as the government forces had withdrawn to a camp about three miles from shore.