The Nelson class as distant-station flagships

HMS Nelson followed HMS Shannon in the Royal Navy's search for a practical overseas flagship. Adding a little over two thousand tons produced a ship with more room and command capacity for distant stations without requiring a first-class battleship. John Elder & Company built Nelson in Glasgow, and Robert Napier & Sons built HMS Northampton there. Nelson later spent much of her career on the Australia Station, where George Tryon and Henry Fairfax served as commanders-in-chief. That service shows how the design combined squadron command with a cruiser-sized commitment.