The Magenta was an ironclad battleship of the French Navy

French Navy

The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale and often called La Royale is the maritime arm of the French military. It includes a full range of fighting vessels, from patrol boats to a nuclear powered aircraft carrier and 10 nuclear-powered submarines, four of which are capable of launching...

. The ship underwent significant changes during her construction phase including three different sets of main guns and increases in length and width. Like her sister ships she suffered from an over-large unarmoured superstructure that in Magentas case stretched for 40 feet about the top of her armoured belt. In defence of the superstructure one of the ship's captains reported that it did make the ship notably more habitable than it otherwise would have been