Spartiate cost about £680,000, far above the Diadem class average, yet she did not deliver correspondingly greater performance or service. She was considered for Australian Station flagship duty but acquired little active career before becoming a stokers' training ship. Sand in her condensers caused machinery friction and forced engine reconstruction, while later condenser-tube leaks spoiled another trial. A third trial attempt was abandoned, and she did not become ready for sea until March 1903. Her high purchase cost, delayed acceptance, and thin operational use make her a compact case study in construction quality and procurement value.
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Spartiate's high cost and machinery failures
The class's most expensive ship lost years to contaminated condensers, leaking tubes, repeated trials, and a remarkably thin active career.