Until 1908, the ships served in Home waters, the Mediterranean and the Far East. On the outbreak of the First World War "Cressy", "Aboukir", "Hogue", "Bacchante" and "Euryalus" formed the Seventh Cruiser Squadron. Due to the obsolescence of the ships and because they were crewed by inexperienced reservists the squadron was known as the "Live Bait Squadron". This epithet proved prophetic when "Cressy", "Hogue" and "Aboukir" were sunk in a single action on 22 September 1914 by the German submarine "U-9" near the Dutch coast. After the first cruiser had been hit, the following cruisers both came to a dead halt to pick up survivors, making themselves easy targets for torpedoes.