Becoming obsolete as cruiser speeds increased, Renown became a royal yacht and had all of her secondary armament removed to make her more suitable for such duties.

In their stead, an improved Centurion-class battleship design was chosen to keep the workers at Pembroke Dockyard fully employed.

No formal requirement for a second-class battleship suitable for use as the flagship on foreign stations or to reinforce cruiser squadrons existed at the time, but the decision to build the ship was strongly influenced by the views of the Controller of the Navy, Rear Admiral John A.

[5] Renown was powered by a pair of three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller.

The engines were designed to produce a total of 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) which was intended to allow her to reach a speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).

The engines proved to be more powerful than anticipated and Renown reached 18.75 knots (34.73 km/h; 21.58 mph) during sea trials under forced draught.

The ship carried a maximum of 1,890 long tons (1,920 t) of coal, enough to steam 6,400 nautical miles (11,900 km; 7,400 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[6] She was armed with four 32-calibre, breech-loading 10-inch (254 mm) Mk III guns in two twin-gun barbettes, one forward and one aft.

[7] Her secondary armament consisted of ten 40-calibre quick-firing (QF) 6-inch (152 mm) Mk II guns.

[7] The ship's protection was generally composed of Harvey armour and her waterline main belt was 6–8 inches (152–203 mm) thick.

The gun turrets that protected the main armament were six inches thick on their face, with three-inch sides and a 1-inch (25 mm) roof.

She was completed in January 1897 at a cost of £751,206, but then underwent lengthy sea trials that included the changing of her propeller blades that lasted until June.

She was briefly attached to the 1st Division, of the Channel Squadron, from 7 to 12 July for manoeuvres off the south coast of Ireland.

A strong proponent of the design of Renown, Fisher also found her highly desirable for the hosting of the social events required of a flagship in peacetime.

[15] After the manoeuvres ended, she was detached from the Mediterranean Fleet and returned to the United Kingdom to be specially fitted out at Portsmouth to carry the Duke and Duchess of Connaught on a royal tour of India.

Between October and December 1907, Renown carried King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain on an official trip to and from the United Kingdom.

Five months later, 25 September, she began a refit in Portsmouth Dockyard to convert her for use as a stoker's training ship.

[1] Renown briefly served as a tender to HMS Victory in October[19] before her refit was completed in November.