 HMS Empress of India , named after a regnal title of Queen Victoria , was the first ship of her name to serve in the Royal Navy . She was ordered under the Naval Defence Act Programme of 1889 with the name of Renown and was laid down on 9 July 1889 at Pembroke Dockyard . The ship was renamed before she was launched on 7 May 1891 by Louise Margaret , Duchess of Connaught and Strathearn . One man was killed when a cable snapped the following day . The ship was then transferred to Chatham Dockyard , where she was completed in August 1893 , at a cost of £ 912 @,@ 612 . 
