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

[1] In that role she provided escort for the royal yacht Ophir carrying the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York (the future King George V and Queen Mary) to Australia to open the new Federal Parliament in 1901.

[4] In January 1903 Vice Admiral Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe took command of the Australia Station and hoisted his flag on the ship.

[1] Laid up in reserve for three years, she served as part of the Home Fleet and later Queenstown Training Squadron.

She was a guardship at Scapa Flow during the early part of the First World War and later as a submarine depot ship.