 "Royalist" was ordered from Devonport Dockyard and laid down on 27 April 1881.She was launched on 7 March 1883 and reclassified as a corvette in 1884 before being commissioned for the first time on 14 April 1886.She was built of an iron frame with wooden planking (hence "composite") and her class was unique in being the only wooden or composite ships of the Royal Navy to be fitted with an armoured deck.