The ship was laid down at Toulon on 19 July 1875, and was launched on 27 April 1882. Originally named Foudroyant ("Lightning"), she was renamed to honour Admiral Amédée Courbet on 25 June 1885. Courbet was commissioned on 20 October 1886 and assigned to the l'escadre d'évolution ("Squadron of Evolution") at Toulon on 1 November 1886. After a final voyage to Algeria in 1902, she sailed from Toulon to Brest, where she was put into reserve on 4 January 1903. Disarmed in February 1908, she was struck on 5 February 1909, and sold for scrap on 25 August 1910.