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 (35.2 to 36.1 km/h; 21.9 to 22.4 mph).