HMS Goliath (1898) - Definition and Overview

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Laid down:	4th January 1897
Launched:	23rd March 1898
Commissioned:	27th March 1900
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HMS Goliath (1898) was one of the six Canopus-class battleships built by the British Royal Navy in the late 18th century. She was laid down at the Chatham Dockyard on January 4, 1897 and was launched in March 23, 1898. She was commissioned in March 1900.

In 1900, the ship was sent to China until 1903. The vessel joined the Mediterranean Fleet in May 1905 and then was transferred to the Channel Fleet in December of the same year, and remained there until March 1907. Goliath was sent to Sheerness as a part of the Fourth Fleet. In 1913, she was mothballed and joined the Third Fleet also known as the Pembroke Reserve.

During World War I, on August 1914 she joined the battle squadron operating out of Devonport and was later sent to Loch Ewe to defend the Grand Fleet anchorage. In September 1914, Goliath was dispatched to the East Indies for escort duty against German warships in the area. In November 1914 she took part in the blockade operation against the SMS Konigsberg in the Rufiji River. On the night of May 12, 1915, while stationed in Morto Bay off Cape Helles during the Dardanelles Campaign, she was hit by three torpedoes from the Turkish torpedo boat Muavenet which was being manned by a German crew at the time.

See HMS Goliath for other ships of this name.