Forth returned only intermittently to manoeuvre service after her 1896 payoff. Her 1904 conversion then replaced the cruiser role with work as a submarine depot ship. During the First World War she moved among the Third, Tenth, Eighth, and Ninth Submarine Flotillas. Those assignments kept an older protected cruiser useful as a mobile base, providing continuity and support to newer boats rather than serving as a front-line combatant.
Chapter · 34:24-35:21
HMS Forth supports wartime submarine flotillas
After conversion to a depot ship, Forth moved among submarine flotillas and remained in support service through the First World War.