Sully was laid down at the Forges et Chantiers de la Méditerranée shipyard in La Seyne on 24 May 1899 and launched on 4 June 1901 . The ship was completed in June 1904 and sent to French Indochina for her first commission . On 7 February 1905 Sully struck a rock in Hạ Long Bay ; her crew was not injured . Her guns and equipment was salvaged , but the ship broke in two and was abandoned as a total loss .