 The protective deck armour ranged in thickness from and the conning tower was protected by of armour.HMS "Drake", named after the Elizabethan adventurer Sir Francis Drake, was laid down at Pembroke Dock on 24 April 1899, and launched on 5 March 1901, when she was christened by Mrs. Lort Phillips, wife of local landowner F. Lort Phillips, of Lawrenny.Based at Portsmouth for her gun, torpedo and circle trials in late 1902, there was also trials with a new type of propeller.