weight compared to previous types of armour. This allowed Magnificent and her sisters to have a deeper and lighter belt than previous battleships without any loss in protection. The barbettes for the main battery were protected with of armor, and the conning tower had the same thickness of steel on the sides. The ship's armored deck was thick. Service history Magnificent was laid down at the Chatham Dockyard on 18 December 1893. She was launched a year and a day later, on 19 December 1894, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy another year later, in December 1895, to relieve the battleship as second flagship of the Channel Fleet. On 26 June 1897, she was present at the Fleet Review at Spithead for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Captain John Ferris was appointed in command in January 1899, and from February the following year she joined the Eastern division of the Channel Fleet, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral Arthur Dalrymple Fanshawe. On receiving word of the death of Queen Victoria on 21 January 1901 while stationed in Portsmouth, Magnificent flew the Royal Standard at half mast. Captain Arthur John Horsley was appointed in command in October 1900, and in June the following year she became flagship of Rear-Admiral Sir William Acland, second in command of the Channel Squadron. He relinquished the position one year later, and at sunset on 5 June 1902 struck his flag on board the Magnificent. Rear-Admiral Assheton Curzon-Howe, who had succeeded Acland, transferred to the vessel later the same month. She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII, and visited the Aegean Sea for combined manoeuvres with the Mediterranean Fleet the following month. Captain Sackville Carden was appointed in command on 16 October 1902, and took her to visit Gibraltar and Tetuan the following week. By January 1904, the ship had become the flagship of the Channel Fleet. As a result of a reorganization in January 1905, the Channel Fleet became the Atlantic Fleet, and Magnificent accordingly became a part of the Atlantic Fleet. A gun explosion aboard Magnificent on 14 June 1905 resulted in 18 casualties. The explosion was caused by a faulty shell in one of the 6-inch guns; it failed to fire, and when the loader opened the breech, contact with the fresh air