Apollo carried two QF 6adj=onNaNadj=on guns, one on the forecastle and the other on the poop and six QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) guns mounted in the waist. Four single QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss guns were carried in the waist, two more on the forecastle and two on the poop. Two 0.45inches Nordenfelt 5 barrel machine guns were mounted in the forecastle and two in the poop. One QF 3-pounder Hotchkiss gun was carried for use in the ship's boats, although it was provided one mount on each side of the after end of the waist. Four 14inches torpedo tube were fitted, two fixed on the stem and stern, and two broadside training tubes on the upper deck aft.[1]
She was totally disarmed when she was converted to a minelayer in 1909 at Chatham Dockyard. Mine rails were fitted on her maindeck, which required that the cabins under the poop be removed, and she could carry a hundred mines. Her after deckhouse was extended and her magazines were converted to storerooms.
When the First World War began she was given four QF 4.7inches guns, but these were again removed when she was disarmed in 1915.
Apollos armored decks ranged from 2inches-1.25inchesin (-in) in thickness and her conning tower was 3inches thick. Her engine hatch was thick.[1]
Apollo had 2-shaft steam reciprocating engines and five boilers that gave 7000 indicated horsepower (ihp) using natural draught and 9000ihp using forced draught. She could make 18.5kn using natural draught and20kn at forced draught. She carried 535LT of coal.[1]
Originally under Captain Richard Poore, she came under the captaincy of Captain (later Vice Admiral) George Anson Primrose in 1893.[2]
After a spell in the reserve, she was present at the Fleet Review for the Diamond Jubilee in 1897, and was transferred back to the reserve in 1900. In February that year she was moved from Chatham to Devonport.[3] She took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.[4] In 1909 she was converted into a minelayer, and served in this role for the first year of the First World War. She and her sisters formed a squadron operating from Dover and the Nore. She was again disarmed in 1915 and either relegated to secondary roles or laid up, with Arthur Wood captaining her between 1917 and 1919. She was broken up in 1920.[1]