 "King Alfred", named after Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon King of Wessex, was laid down on 11 August 1899 by Vickers, Sons & Maxim at their shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness and launched on 28 October 1901, when she was named by the Countess of Lathom.She left Barrow for Portsmouth in early June 1902, and was completed on 22 December 1903.After commission, she ran aground off Shoeburyness on 5 May 1905.