The ship carried a maximum of 900 long tons (910 t) of coal which was designed to give her a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[1] Australia, named for the Australian continent,[3] was laid down on 21 April 1885 by Robert Napier and Sons at their shipyard in Govan, Glasgow.

[4] Shortly after commissioning, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Fleet and remained there until 1893 when she participated in the Columbian Review held in New York City that year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the New World.

[6] She escorted the royal yacht HMY Osborne when Queen Victoria visited Ireland in April 1900,[7] and in September the following year she visited Germany and Denmark when she escorted the royal yacht carrying King Edward VII from Hamburg to Elsinore.

[9] Captain Charles Home Cochran was appointed in command on 24 November 1902,[10] but the ship was placed in reserve at Chatham Dockyard in early 1903,[5] before being sold for scrap on 4 April 1905.