HMS Barfleur: a battleship in imperial service

Barfleur entered the reserve immediately after commissioning, an indication of the depth of the contemporary Royal Navy rather than of an unusable ship. She later served in the Mediterranean during the Cretan uprising, landed personnel to protect British subjects, and joined the multinational squadron intervening around Crete. After moving to the China Station, her landing parties took part in operations during the Boxer Rebellion, including the Taku Forts and relief of the foreign legations. David Beatty was serving aboard and was wounded ashore during the campaign, an episode associated here with his emerging reputation. Even Barfleur's disposal produced a memorable incident when the tow to the scrapyard jammed between bridge piers at Newcastle and stopped road traffic. Her career illustrates the political, expeditionary, and naval-station duties expected of a major imperial warship far beyond line-of-battle service.