initially served in the Mediterranean before joining her sisters on the China Station, though the Anglo-Japanese Alliance permitted their withdrawal in 1905, as with the "Centurion"s. Upon returning to home waters, they were assigned to the Channel, Home, and Atlantic Fleets. "Canopus", , , and were sent to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1908–1910, thereafter being reduced to reserve status. At the start of war, the ships were mobilised and saw extensive service in various secondary theatres. Their age rendered them more expendable than the newer battleships of the Grand Fleet, and so they were used more aggressively than the vessels containing the German High Seas Fleet in the North Sea. "Canopus" was sent to join the hunt for the German East Asia Squadron; she missed the Battle of Coronel but fired the first shots in the Battle of the Falkland Islands. "Goliath" was part of the force that battled the German light cruiser in German East Africa, while , , and "Ocean" supported operations elsewhere in Africa. Several of the ships took part in the Dardanelles campaign in 1915, where "Ocean" and "Goliath" were sunk during the fighting. The surviving ships saw little activity after 1915, though "Glory" was the flagship of the British North Russia Squadron in 1916. The four ships were ultimately scrapped in the post-war reduction in the fleet's strength in 1919–1922.