ad hoc changes were made to ships while under construction, which further delayed their completion as outdated features had to be removed, more advanced equipment developed and installed, all the while modifying the ships' design to ensure they retained stability and did not become overloaded. The problems with French administration were compounded with changes in leadership that brought major shifts in construction priorities. Admiral Théophile Aube, who was the Minister of Marine in 1886–1887, was a staunch advocate of the so-called and opposed new battleship construction in favor of cheaper torpedo boats. He halted work on the ships during his tenure, which further delayed their completion. According to the historian Theodore Ropp, "the constant tinkering with the designs...proved to be little short of disastrous", noting the dangerous instability (which afflicted Magenta in particular), their overloaded condition that largely submerged their armor belts, and their towering superstructures that rendered them large targets. Worse still, they took so long to complete that by the time they entered service, the first pre-dreadnought battleships of the had been completed, which far surpassed the Marceaus in combat effectiveness. Service history After entering service, Marceau initially went on a voyage to Russia with several other vessels to mark the signing of the Franco-Russian Alliance in 1891. She then joined the Mediterranean Squadron, France's front-line fleet unit. She was joined there by the other two ships in 1893 after they were commissioned. The ships had relatively uneventful careers, and over the rest of the decade, the three ships were primarily occupied with annual training maneuvers. In 1897, Marceau and Neptune helped to evaluate a new fire-control system. Magenta was involved in tests with the new submarine in 1898, where the submarine scored two hits with practice torpedoes. All three vessels were reduced to training ships in 1899, as a number of new pre-dreadnought battleships had been built, taking their place as front-line warships. The Marceaus were thereafter assigned to the Reserve Division of the Mediterranean Squadron for torpedo and gunnery training. All three ships were modernized with new boilers in the early 1900s, including reductions in their top-heavy superstructures and heavy masts and installation of water-tube boilers. Regardless, they saw limited use after returning to service. Marceau and Magenta resumed training duties in 1903, though Neptune saw no further use. During parliamentary debates in 1908, the waste of funds that had been spent modernizing Neptune was highlighted,