Sold for Scrap 11 August 1905

HMS Marathon was built by Fairfield. Launched 23/8/1888 and sold for breaking up at Preston, on 11/8/1905.

The Marathon Cruisers were ordered under the naval programme of 1887, similar to the Mersey class except smaller. HMS Marathon, HMS Melpomene and Magicienne were built for foreign (tropical) service and were built with a sheath of wood and copper which added extra weight to the displacement and caused a slight loss in speed. Some bad points for the crew were the lack of accommodation space and also small boiler rooms giving the stockers cramped working conditions. They also never achieved their designed speed.

Displacement: 2800 tons, /sheathed cruisers 2950 tons, Speed: 20 knots. Crew 218 Armament: Six 6-inch guns, Nine 6 pdr quick firing guns, One 3 pdr, and three machine guns. Two Torpedo Tubes