The nine ships, HMS Majestic, Caesar, Hannibal, Illustrious, Jupiter, Magnificent, Mars, Prince George, and Victorious, were built between 1894 and 1898 as part of a programme to strengthen the Royal Navy versus its two traditional rivals, France and Russia.

They were also the first British ships to incorporate Harvey armour, which allowed them to carry a much more comprehensive level of protection.

In 1891, Rear Admiral Jackie Fisher, then the Controller of the Royal Navy, issued a request for a new battleship design based on the Royal Sovereign class, but that incorporated a recently designed 12 in (305 mm) gun and Harvey armour, which was significantly stronger than compound armour.

The Director of Naval Construction, William Henry White, prepared a preliminary design for a 12,500-long-ton (12,700 t) ship armed with four of the 12 in guns and protected with an armour belt that was 9 inches (229 mm) thick.

Due to the greater resilience that Harvey armour provided, less of it could be used for the same level of protection, allowing for significant weight reduction.

As a result, the protection scheme was made stronger and more comprehensive than in the Royal Sovereigns, while minimising increased displacement.

While the preceding Royal Sovereign-class battleships had revolutionised and stabilised British battleship design by introducing the high-freeboard battleship with four main-battery guns in twin mountings in barbettes fore and aft, it was the Majestics that settled on the 12 in main battery and began the practice of mounting armoured gunhouses over the barbettes; these gunhouses, although very different from the old-style, heavy, circular gun turrets that preceded them, would themselves become known as "turrets" and became the standard on warships worldwide.

Their propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines, each driving a single four-bladed screw.

Their engines were rated at 10,000 indicated horsepower (7,500 kW) at normal draught, and they provided a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph).

[8] Majestic and her sisters were armed with four BL 12-inch Mk VIII 35-calibre guns in twin-gun turrets, one forward and one aft.

Caesar and Illustrious, with their circular barbettes, had BIII mountings with rotating hoists, and these allowed all-around loading from the magazines.

These were mounted in casemates in two gun decks amidships,[10][2] and they fired a 100-pound (45 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,205 ft/s (672 m/s).

These were placed in a variety of mounts, including in casemates, on the main battery turret roofs, and in the fighting tops.

[2] The Woolwich Arsenal manufactured the torpedoes, which were the Mark IV model; these carried a 200-pound (91 kg) warhead and had a range of 750 yards (690 m) at a speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph).

This arrangement required any shell that penetrated the belt to also pass through the deck before it could reach the ship's vitals.

They were present at the Diamond Jubilee for Queen Victoria in June 1897 and took part in the Coronation Review for King Edward VII in August 1902, along with Hannibal.

Later that year, Majestic, Prince George, and Illustrious were assigned to the 7th Battle Squadron (BS).

Following Britain's entry into the First World War in August 1914, Caesar and Jupiter were assigned to the 7th BS, which was in turn assigned to the Channel Fleet and tasked with protecting the British Expeditionary Force as it crossed the English Channel to France.

At the same time, Hannibal, Mars, Magnificent, and Victorious were assigned to the 9th Battle Squadron and stationed in the Humber to protect the British coast.

At around the same time, Prince George was hit by a shell from an Ottoman coastal battery, requiring repairs at Malta.

Hannibal, Magnificent, Victorious, and Mars were laid up in early 1915 and had their 12 in guns removed to arm the Lord Clive-class monitors.

From December 1914 to September 1918, Caesar was employed as a guard ship, first at Gibraltar and then in the North America and West Indies Station.

Prince George was sold for scrapping in Germany in September, but while en route she ran aground off Camperduin.