 HMS Empress of India was one of seven Royal Sovereign @-@ class pre @-@ dreadnought battleships built for the Royal Navy during the 1890s . The ship was commissioned in 1893 and served as the flagship of the second @-@ in @-@ command of the Channel Fleet for two years . She was transferred to the Mediterranean Fleet in 1897 , during which time Empress of India was assigned to the International Squadron blockading Crete during the uprising there . She returned home in 1901 and was briefly assigned as a coast guard ship in Ireland before she became the second flagship of the Home Fleet . The ship was reduced to reserve in 1905 and accidentally collided with the submarine HMS A10 the following year . Empress of India was taken out of service in early 1912 and accidentally struck a German sailing ship while under tow . She was sunk as a target ship in 1913 . 
