HMS Imperieuse was the lead ship of her class of two armoured cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1880s.

[2] The steel-hulled ships were fitted with a ram and their hulls were sheathed in teak which was covered in copper to reduce biofouling.

The engines produced 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) used forced draught and Imperieuse reached 16.75 knots (31.02 km/h; 19.28 mph) on her sea trials.

The Imperieuse-class ships carried a maximum of 1,130 long tons (1,150 t) of coal which gave them an economical range of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4] Imperieuse was laid down at Portsmouth Royal Dockyard on 10 August 1881, launched on 18 December 1883, and completed in September 1886.