HMS Royal Oak (1892) relieved by the battleship "Bulwark" and departed the Mediterranean in May 1902. She arrived at Plymouth on 16 May, and at Portsmouth the following day, and paid off there on 6 June 1902. She soon moved to Chatham Dockyard for a refit, during which casemates were provided for her six-inch upper deck guns. On 16 February 1903, "Royal Oak" recommissioned at Portsmouth for service in the Home Fleet using part of the battleship "Nile"'s crew as a nucleus. In the summer of 1903, she participated in combined exercises in the Atlantic involving the Home Fleet, Mediterranean, and Channel Fleets, as
HMS Royal Oak (08) torpedo attack. By 19:15, "Royal Oak" gunners had observed the German battlecruiser squadron and opened fire at the leading vessel, . The gunners overestimated the range initially, but by 19:20 had found the correct distance scored a pair of hits aft, which did not inflict serious damage. "Derfflinger" then disappeared in the haze, so "Royal Oak" shifted fire to the next battlecruiser, . She scored a hit at 19:27 before "Seydlitz" too was lost in the mist. While "Royal Oak" was attacking the battlecruisers, a German torpedo boat flotilla launched an attack on the British line. "Royal Oak"s secondary guns