Crescent, and her sister ship Royal Arthur, were built to a slightly modified design and are sometimes considered a separate class.

[1][2] It contained four double-ended cylindrical Fairfields boilers feeding steam at 150 pounds per square inch (1,000 kPa) to 2 three-cylinder triple expansion engines,[3] which drove two shafts.

[4] From 1899 until 1902 she was flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford, Commander-in-Chief North America and West Indies Station, which had headquarters at Bermuda and (during summer) Halifax.

Under the command of Captain Charles John Graves-Sawle she visited Trinidad and Jamaica in February 1900,[5][6] and the following month Nassau, Bahamas to assist HMS Hermes, stranded there with a broken shaft.

[10] She arrived at Spithead on 24 July,[11] but her commission was prolonged so she could take part in the fleet review held there on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.