The battleship H.M.S. Barfleur on the China station

Named for a notable victory during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1692, H.M.S. Barfleur was built at Chatham, launched in August 1892 and completed in June 1894 at a cost of just over £1/2 million. Displacing 10,500 tons, she measured 360 feet in length with a 70 foot beam and could make 18½ knots at full steam. Carrying a main armament of 4-10in. guns, her other weaponry included torpedo tubes and she was impressively armour-plated. Sent first to join the Mediterranean Fleet, she was transferred to the Far East in September 1898 - as a flagship - and remained on the China Station until returning to Devonport in January 1902. Extensively rebuilt in 1902-04, she was thereafter held in the Fleet Reserve until sold for scrapping in 1910.