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The ship’s waterline main vertical armour belt ranged from a maximum thickness of 6 inches to 2 inches outwith the citadel, which was closed off at either end by 5-inch transverse bulkheads forward of the foremost 7.5-inch A turret and aft of the aftmost 7.5-inch Y turret. The horizontal deck armour ranged in thickness from 0.75 to 2 inches, whilst her conning tower, made of cast steel because of the complex shape, was 12 inches thick.

On completion in 1905, Hampshire was initially assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Channel Fleet and later was assigned to the 6th Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet before being transferred to the China Station in 1912.

When World War I began in August 1914, she was in Wei Hai Wei, and was ordered south to the Dutch East Indies to search for the German light cruiser Emden, which was operating in the Indian Ocean. Ingeniously, the Emden’s captain had added a false fourth funnel en route as he passed through the neutral Dutch East Indies to make Emden look like a British light cruiser.