 The "Bayard" class of barbette ships was designed in the late 1870s as part of a naval construction program that began under the post-Franco-Prussian War fleet plan of 1872.At the time, the French Navy categorized its capital ships as high-seas ships for the main fleet, station ironclads for use in the French colonial empire, and smaller coastal defense ships.The "Bayard" class was intended to serve in the second role, and they were based on the high-seas ironclad , albeit a scaled-down version.