Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines powered by eight coal-fired, cylindrical fire-tube Scotch marine boilers.

[2] The ship was armed with a main battery of four BL 12-inch (305 mm) Mk VIII guns in twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft.

This allowed Hannibal and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection.

[1] The barbettes for the main battery were protected with 14 in (356 mm) of armour, and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides.

On 10 May 1898 she went into full commission to serve in the Portsmouth division of the Channel Fleet, under the command of Captain Sir Baldwin Wake Walker.

[3] She was part of a huge fleet of ships present in the Solent for the passage of the body of Queen Victoria from Cowes to Portsmouth on 2 February 1901.

Captain George Augustus Giffard was appointed in command on 10 May 1902,[4] and she was present at the Coronation Fleet Review for King Edward VII on 16 August 1902.

[7] On 17 October 1903 she collided with and badly damaged her sister ship HMS Prince George off Ferrol, Spain.

[8] Hannibal underwent a refit in 1906 in which she was converted to burn oil fuel and received fire control for her main battery.

When Dominion returned to service in May 1907, Hannibal went back into the commissioned reserve, becoming a part of the Portsmouth Division of the new Home Fleet[8] in July 1907.

The 9th Battle Squadron was dissolved on 7 August 1914, and Hannibal was transferred to Scapa Flow, where she served as a guard ship until relieved by the first-class protected cruiser HMS Royal Arthur on 20 February 1915.

Hannibal was paid off for disposal at Malta on 25 October 1919,[11] was sold for scrapping on 28 January 1920, and was broken up in Italy.