The 340 mm turrets are too heavy and are not balanced, and when both are trained on the same beam the heel of the ship is such that the upper edge of the belt is level with the water. This means that the only side protection against enemy shell is provided by the 10 cm upper belt. The thickness of the armour belt at its lower edge—only 25 cm—and the large turning circle are further weaknesses. 1896–1900 Brennus finally entered service on 11 January 1896 at a cost of F25,083,675, although her post-trials refit made her unavailable until 1 April. Despite her problems, as the most modern capital ship of the French fleet, she served as the flagship of the Mediterranean Squadron under (Vice admiral) Alfred Gervais. While towing targets for the other ships in her squadron on 24 August, the ship was accidentally fired upon by the torpedo cruiser ; one man was wounded in the incident. Gervais was relieved by Jules de Cuverville on 15 October, who was replaced in his turn by Edgar Humann on 15 October 1897. That year, the issued a new doctrine for gunnery control. During gunnery training exercises to test the new system, Brennus and the ironclad battleships Neptune and achieved 26 percent hits at a range of . Their success prompted the Navy to make this method the standard for the fleet in February 1898. On 16 April 1898, Félix Faure, President of France, boarded the ship to watch maneuvers. After their completion he suggested a race between the battleships; after two hours Brennus trailed the newer Charles Martel and , but beat four older ships. The ship participated in the annual fleet maneuvers during 8–20 July. Navy Minister Édouard Lockroy then observed gunnery exercises aboard her in September that culminated with the sinking of the old floating battery . Ernest François Fournier hoisted his flag aboard Brennus as commander of the Mediterranean Squadron on 1 October. Augustin Boué de Lapeyrère became captain of the ship that same day. Desiring a figurehead for his ship, he located an old one of the goddess Ceres in storage and ordered that she be refashioned into a Gaul. He also ordered his chief engineer to make a suitable copper helmet for the figurehead. Stowed below whenever the ship went to sea, Brennus was the last ship in the to bear a figurehead. As tensions between