"Centurion" ran aground on a sandbank at Shimonoseki, Japan in June 1896, but was not damaged. Captain John Jellicoe (the future First Sea Lord) assumed command of the ship on 12 February 1898. A week later, Vice-Admiral Sir Edward Seymour hoisted his flag aboard her. During the Boxer Rebellion, she contributed men to Seymour's expedition that attempted and failed to relieve the besieged International Legations in Peking, capital of China, between 10 and 28 June 1900. Jellicoe served as Seymour's flag-captain during the expedition and was badly wounded on the 21st. In addition, the ship put landing parties ashore which joined other forces in storming the Taku forts on 16–17 June and in relieving the foreign legations at Tientsin on 13–14 July.