The first keel plates for two new battleships had been laid in the Royal Dockyards at Chatham and Portsmouth, both ships i.e. the Goliath and the Canopus were modified Majestics, being 390ft. between perpendiculars, and over all 418ft. They had a beam of 74ft., and a displacement of 12,950 tons, with a draught of 25ft. forward and aft.