Crescent had her first commission at the Australia Station. On 11 January 1895 she left Australia under Captain Arbuthnot. From 1899 until 1902 she was flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Frederick Bedford, Commander-in-Chief North America and West Indies Station, which had headquarters at Bermuda and (during summer) Halifax. Under the command of Captain Charles John Graves-Sawle she visited Trinidad and Jamaica in February 1900, and the following month Nassau, Bahamas to assist HMS Hermes, stranded there with a broken shaft. Captain Stanley Colville was appointed in command on 1 March 1900, but did not actually take command of the ship until later. Commander Henry Hervey Campbell was appointed in command in May 1902, and she took part in coronation celebrations at the Halifax headquarter in that year.

Bedford was succeeded as Commander-in-Chief at the station on 15 July 1902, when he left homebound with Crescent, which was succeeded as flagship of the station by HMS Ariadne. She arrived at Spithead on 24 July, but her commission was prolonged so she could take part in the fleet review held there on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII. Following the review, the King went on a tour westwards along the coast, with Crescent as escort ship, and she only returned to Portsmouth in early September, paying off there on 3 October for a complete overhaul.

She served in the First World War, and was sold on 22 September 1921 for breaking up in Germany.
(Note, Crescent served as a depot ship in Scapa Flow and Rosyth from 1915 until after the war.)