This gave them a range of about at the turrets' maximum elevation of +15 degrees. Each gun was provided with 200 rounds, of which 44 shells were stowed in the turrets, which it could fire at a rate of three rounds per minute. The cruisers' secondary armament consisted of four 45-caliber QF Canon de 100 mm Modèle de 1893 guns on single mounts in unprotected casemates in the hull. Their shells were fired at muzzle velocities of at a rate of six rounds per minute. At their maximum elevation of +20 degrees, the guns had a range of . The sisters carried 250 rounds for each gun. For defense against torpedo boats, they carried ten and four Hotchkiss guns, all of which were on single mounts. The ship were also equipped with two above-water torpedo tubes, one on each broadside. The nickel steel armor belt of the "Dupleix"-class cruisers extended from below the waterline to above it and covered the entire length of the ship except for of the stern where it ended in a transverse bulkhead thick. The armor was thick, although it reduced to 84 mm in front of the forward turret and thinned to at its lower edge. The curved protective deck had a total thickness of on the flat and on the upper part of the curved portion where it met the bottom edge of the belt armor. Behind the belt armor was a watertight internal cofferdam, filled with cellulose. The face and sides of the gun turrets were protected by Harvey face-hardened armor plates, although their roofs were only thick. The armor plates of the gun barbettes was thick. The sides of the elliptical conning tower were 100 to 120 millimeters thick. The first ship completed, "Dupleix", was initially assigned to the Atlantic Division as its flagship. Her sisters were initially assigned to the Mediterranean Squadron's Light Squadron (), although "Desaix" relieved "Dupleix" as flagship of the Atlantic Division in 1905. In her turn "Kléber" relieved "Desaix" as flagship of the Atlantic Division in 1907. "Desaix" took "Kléber"s place in the Light Squadron. While visiting the United States later that year, the cruiser accidentally collided with and sank an American cargo ship and participated in the Jamestown Exposition, celebrating the tercentenary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. At the beginning of 1908, "Kléber" became flagship of the Moroccan Division ().