HMS Audacious was ordered on 29 April 1867 from Robert Napier in Govan, Glasgow.
She was laid down on 26 June 1867 and launched on 27 February 1869 in a gale.
The winds caught the rear of the ship as she was about halfway down the slipway and twisted her enough that some plates and frames of her bottom were damaged.
The ship was completed on 10 September 1870 and commissioned the following month.
She cost £256,291 to build.

Upon completion she became guard ship of the First Reserve at Kingstown, Ireland (modern Dún Laoghaire), but was transferred the following year to Hull where she remained until 1874.
The ship was ordered to the Far East that year to serve as the flagship for the China Station under the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Phillips Ryder.
Despite the presence of escorting tugs, Audacious grounded twice while she was transiting through the Suez Canal.
She relieved her sister Iron Duke in Singapore, and later collided with a merchant ship during a typhoon in Yokohama.
Iron Duke relieved her in turn in 1878.
 Audacious returned to her previous post in Hull in 1879, relieving HMS Endymion.
She served there until she began a lengthy refit which included new boilers and the addition of a poop deck.

The ship's refit was complete in March 1883 and she again relieved Iron Duke as flagship of the China Station later that year.
Audacious remained there until 1889 when she returned to Chatham where she was refitted, rearmed and replaced her masts and rigging with simple pole masts fitted with fighting tops.
Upon the completion of her refit in 1890 she returned to Hull for the third time until the ship was decommissioned in 1894.
Audacious was relegated to 4th class reserve until her engines were removed and she was converted to an unpropelled depot ship in 1902.
She was commissioned at Chatham on 16 July 1902 by Captain Henry Loftus Tottenham as torpedo depot ship at that port.
She then acted as depot ship for destroyers at Felixstowe until 1905, when she paid off; in April 1904 she had been renamed Fisgard (after the French translation of the Welsh town Fishguard).
In 1906, she was recomissioned as part of the four-ship Fisgard boy artificers training establishment at Portsmouth.
The ship was towed to Scapa Flow in 1914 after the start of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and was renamed Imperieuse.
On 13 January 1915, the auxiliary minesweeper HMS Roedean was driven onto Imperieuse in Scapa Flow off Hoy, Orkney Islands; Rodean sank due to damage she suffered in the collision.

In 1919, Imperieuse was to be renamed Victorious, but the renaming was cancelled.
She was towed from Scapa to Rosyth on 31 March 1920, where she remained as store ship until 15 March 1927, when she was sold to Thos W Ward of Inverkeithing for scrap.
HMS Audacious was ordered on 29 April 1867 from Robert Napier in Govan, Glasgow. She was laid down on 26 June 1867 and launched on 27 February 1869 in a gale. The winds caught the rear of the ship as she was about halfway down the slipway and twisted her enough that some plates and frames of her bottom were damaged. The ship was completed on 10 September 1870 and commissioned the following month. She cost £256,291 to build.
Upon completion she became guard ship of the First Reserve at Kingstown, Ireland (modern Dún Laoghaire), but was transferred the following year to Hull where she remained until 1874. The ship was ordered to the Far East that year to serve as the flagship for the China Station under the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir Alfred Phillips Ryder. Despite the presence of escorting tugs, Audacious grounded twice while she was transiting through the Suez Canal. She relieved her sister Iron Duke in Singapore, and later collided with a merchant ship during a typhoon in Yokohama. Iron Duke relieved her in turn in 1878.  Audacious returned to her previous post in Hull in 1879, relieving HMS Endymion. She served there until she began a lengthy refit which included new boilers and the addition of a poop deck.
The ship's refit was complete in March 1883 and she again relieved Iron Duke as flagship of the China Station later that year. Audacious remained there until 1889 when she returned to Chatham where she was refitted, rearmed and replaced her masts and rigging with simple pole masts fitted with fighting tops. Upon the completion of her refit in 1890 she returned to Hull for the third time until the ship was decommissioned in 1894. Audacious was relegated to 4th class reserve until her engines were removed and she was converted to an unpropelled depot ship in 1902. She was commissioned at Chatham on 16 July 1902 by Captain Henry Loftus Tottenham as torpedo depot ship at that port. She then acted as depot ship for destroyers at Felixstowe until 1905, when she paid off; in April 1904 she had been renamed Fisgard (after the French translation of the Welsh town Fishguard). In 1906, she was recomissioned as part of the four-ship Fisgard boy artificers training establishment at Portsmouth. The ship was towed to Scapa Flow in 1914 after the start of the First World War to be used as a receiving ship and was renamed Imperieuse. On 13 January 1915, the auxiliary minesweeper HMS Roedean was driven onto Imperieuse in Scapa Flow off Hoy, Orkney Islands; Rodean sank due to damage she suffered in the collision.
In 1919, Imperieuse was to be renamed Victorious, but the renaming was cancelled. She was towed from Scapa to Rosyth on 31 March 1920, where she remained as store ship until 15 March 1927, when she was sold to Thos W Ward of Inverkeithing for scrap.
HMS Audacious (1869)