HMS Champion was one of nine Comus-class corvettes of the Royal Navy, built in the late 1870s and early 1880s to a design by Nathaniel Barnaby.

Champion was a single-screw corvette (later classified as a third-class cruiser) designed for distant cruising service for the British Empire.

[4] They marked a dramatic step forward in basic habitability, with improved below-decks ventilation, a sick bay, bathroom for ratings and even a ship’s library.

In August 1891 under command of Captain Frederick St Clair, Champion cooperated in a joint landing by French, American and German warships at Valparaiso, Chile, to protect civilians and their respective consulates during the 1891 Chilean Civil War.

The officers of the international parties placed themselves in front of the muzzles of some machine guns with which the president-elect had threatened the civilian populace.