The Marathon class cruiser was a class of second class cruiser of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 ordered under the naval programme of 1887. It was a smaller version of the Mersey class (lead ship - HMS Mersey

HMS Mersey (1885)

HMS Mersey was Mersey-class second class protected cruiser. They were relatively modern, in that they were the first cruisers that had discarded their sailing rigs in the design, that was synonymous with the old wooden warships, and were now solely steam powered warships...

).

Three of the ships, Melpomene, Magicienne and Marathon, were built for foreign (tropical) service, with a sheath of wood and copper - this added weight and made them slightly slower.

Ships

Name	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Completed
	Fairfields, Govan Govan Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....	10 August 1887	23 August 1888	1889
	Fairfields, Govan	10 August 1887	12 May 1888	1889
	Chatham Chatham Dockyard Chatham Dockyard, located on the River Medway and of which two-thirds is in Gillingham and one third in Chatham, Kent, England, came into existence at the time when, following the Reformation, relations with the Catholic countries of Europe had worsened, leading to a requirement for additional...	25 April 1887	9 June 1888	1889
	Portsmouth HMNB Portsmouth Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...	10 October 1887	20 September 1888	1890
	Chatham	25 August 1887	11 August 1888	1889