The Marceau-class ironclads show why a large obsolete hull could retain value without joining the battle line. Magenta and Neptune had already left the register, but Marceau became a floating workshop in 1914. Her space supported submarines and torpedo boats, while the armored hull gave the depot a degree of protection. France retained that service until selling her for breakup in 1921, extracting another wartime role from a ship no longer useful as a modern ironclad.
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Marceau becomes a protected workshop for small craft
The elderly French ironclad Marceau used her large, protected hull as a floating workshop for submarines and torpedo boats.