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She was the only one of the class to serve in the Mediterranean fleet instead of the China station until returning to the Channel fleet in 1906 and in that year went into refit to receive Fire control. Further refitting was done while with the reserve at Portsmouth with reduced crew in 1908 - 09; on returning to the fleet she served as the parent ship for the 4th Division at the Nore and with the home fleet from May 1912 and again refitted at Chatham dockyard.

In 1913 HMS Canopus was stationed at Pembroke, Wales and at the outbreak of the First World War joined the 8th battle squadron of the Channel fleet, soon after she was sent to East Africa and the Cape of Good Hope. Late in 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos she was attached to Sir Christopher Cradock's squadron which went in search of Admiral Maximilian von SpeeCount (Graf) Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert von Spee ( 22 June 1861 8 December 1914) was a German naval officer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark, who joined the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial German Navy) in 1878. In 1887 88 he commanded the Cameroon ports, a's East Asian Squadron in the south-eastern Pacific Ocean. Canopus 's slow maximum speed of only 17 knots meant that she was 300 miles south of the rest of Cradock's squadron when he fatally engaged the German force at the Battle of CoronelThe Battle of Coronel was a World War I naval battle fought off the coast of central Chile on 1 November 1914. During the battle, a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock was met and defeated by the superior Kaiserliche Mari on 1 November 1914Events January 4 77 seal hunters freeze to death on ice near Labrador January 5 Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and a minimum wage of $5 for a day's labor February 13 Copyright: In New York City the ASCAP (for American Society of Compos. She then made for Port StanleySee also Port Stanley, Ontario. Port Stanley also known as Stanley and called Puerto Argentino by Argentineans, is the capital and only town in the Falkland Islands, located on the isle of East Falkland. It lies on a north-facing slope, south of Stanley H in the Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands is an overseas territory of the United Kingdom in the South Atlantic consisting of two main islands known as East Falkland and West Falkland and a number of smaller islands. Sovereignty of the islands is also claimed by Argentina wher, where she was grounded as a local defence fortress. On 8 December 1914 she fired the opening shots of the Battle of the Falkland IslandsThe Battle of the Falkland Islands was a naval engagement of the First World War, fought between units of the Royal Navy and the Kaiserliche Marine navies on 8 December 1914. The British, reeling from the defeat at the Battle of Coronel sent a large force at extreme range (12,000 yards), even though her rear guns were only loaded with practice shots -- one of these shots ricocheted off the water and struck SMS Gneisenau, which fortunately persuaded the German force to break off their attack on the Falklands' radio and coaling stations thus allowing the British force which had arrived at Stanley only the previous day to raise steam and pursue the German force to its destruction. If Canopus had not driven off the German cruisers, the British force would have been caught in harbour, and the outcome of the battle could have been very different.

In February 1915 she was sent to the Mediterranean to support the Dardanelles expedition. While there she was damaged by Turkish gunfire on the 28 April and on 2 May 1915 she was involved in a grounding off Gaba Tepe. In October 1915 she transported troops to Salonika. On returning back to Britain she became the guard ship on the East Coast until 1918 when she was sent to Devonport, where she became a accommodation ship until being sold to the breakers in 1920.