Intended for service in Asia, Albion and her sister ships were smaller and faster than the preceding Majestic-class battleships, but retained the same battery of four 12-inch (305 mm) guns.

After the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, she was mobilised and returned to the Channel Fleet, but was quickly sent to the Atlantic to help defend against the possibility of German warships breaking out of the North Sea.

She participated in major attacks on the Ottoman coastal fortifications defending the Dardanelles in March 1915, but the British and French fleets proved incapable of forcing the straits.

As was customary for battleships of the period, she was also equipped with four 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes submerged in the hull, two on each broadside near the forward and aft barbette.

Tragedy struck when she was launched on 21 June 1898;[3] after Mary of Teck, The Duchess of York christened her, a wave created by Albion's entry into the water caused a stage from which 200 people were watching to collapse into a side creek, and 34 people, mostly women and children, drowned in one of the worst peacetime disasters in Thames history.

[7] HMS Albion was commissioned on 25 June 1901 at Chatham Dockyard, by Captain W. W. Hewett and a complement of 779 officers and men, to relieve battleship Barfleur on the China Station.

Albion was transferred to the Cape of Good Hope Station in South Africa in October 1914, where she took up duty as a guard ship at Walvis Bay through November 1914.

[20] Albion participated in another attack on the forts on 25 February; she was tasked with covering a group of minesweepers, along with Triumph and several destroyers after the main bombardment force suppressed the Ottoman batteries.

By the afternoon, most of the Ottoman artillery had ceased firing, apart from some field guns that could not be observed, and so the minesweepers were ordered to begin clearing the mines, covered by Albion, Triumph, and Vengeance.

Albion was assigned to the fort at Dardanus, and she opened fire with her main battery at a range of 12,000 yards (11,000 m), though the Ottoman response was light.

[21] On 28 February, Albion took part in another attempt to suppress the Ottoman defences in the Dardanelles; she and Triumph led the operation, and were tasked with neutralizing the repaired fortress at Dardanus, while Majestic and Ocean supported them by engaging the mobile field guns.

As Albion and Triumph approached Dardanus, they came under heavy fire from Ottoman guns on the European side of the straits, including the fortress at Erenköy, and were forced to circle to avoid taking hits.

Ocean and Majestic approached in an attempt to attack Dardanus, but they too came under renewed, furious fire from Erenköy, and de Robeck again ordered a withdrawal.

The only success came after the four battleships withdrew from the straits and a landing party from Triumph went ashore and disabled a number of light guns.

[22] Albion supported another operation in the Dardanelles on 3 March; she, Triumph and Prince George covered a landing force that was to raid Sedd el Bahr.

Two days later, Albion conducted an indirect fire test to determine the efficacy of attempting to neutralize the fortresses at ranges where the Ottomans would be unable to reply; this was planned to demonstrate the feasibility of using the powerful dreadnought Queen Elizabeth, armed with 15-inch (380 mm) guns, in that role.

Queen Elizabeth joined the bombardment, but mobile howitzers quickly found both vessels and forced de Robeck to break off the operation.

The plan called for the battleships to enter the narrows and suppress the fortresses while minesweepers cleared paths in the Ottoman minefields.

Starting at around 04:30 on the morning of the landings, Albion bombarded the high ground overlooking the beach, but by around 05:30, heavy smoke and mist prevented her gunners from observing targets and so she ceased fire.

After the Allied forces began to go ashore, Albion supported their advance on the village of Sedd el Bahr, but by around 07:30 had to check fire again, as friendly troops had entered the town.

As it turned out, the report of Allied troops in Sedd el Bahr proved to be erroneous, and further attacks were launched against the Ottoman defenders the following day, which Albion supported.

After Albion knocked out a machine gun position on the south-west corner of the village, the troops were able to advance into the town and force the Ottomans to retreat.

Albion suffered significant damage from Ottoman shore batteries, forcing her to retire to Mudros for repairs, leaking badly.

On 4 October 1915, Albion arrived at Salonika to become a unit of the 3rd Detached Squadron, tasked with assisting the French Navy in a blockade of the coasts of Greece and Bulgaria and with reinforcing the Suez Canal Patrol.