The ship had a single horizontal return connecting-rod compound steam engine that drove a six-bladed, propeller using steam provided by eight Indret oval boilers for a designed speed of . Figures for the engine's designed power vary wildly, from , but "Couronne" reached from during her sea trials. She carried a maximum of of coal which allowed her to steam for at a speed of . The details of "Couronne"s sailing rig are not precisely known, but presumably she was fitted with a light barquentine rig with three masts like that of the "Gloire"-class ships. It is also unknown if she had the same multiple changes of rigging as those ships.