Commissioning by transferring an entire trained crew

When Resolution paid off for refit in October 1901, Captain Alexander William Chisholm-Batten and his whole crew moved to Formidable the following day. The transfer gave the new ship an already cohesive crew and reflects the personnel depth available to the Royal Navy in this period. Sailors leaving naval service in the early 1900s often faced similarly itinerant work in the merchant marine rather than a plentiful choice of shore-based technical careers. Formidable therefore began Mediterranean service with an experienced ship's company instead of assembling one sailor by sailor.