Her building at the yard of Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company at the mouth of the Bow Creek on the west side at Canning Town as part of the Orion-class was ordered in 1909, laid down on 13 April 1910, launched on 1 February 1911, commissioned in May a year later and decommissioned in 1921 to became a year later a seagoing training ship fo cadets and finally paid off in November 1926 in December 1926 and grounded off Blythe on her last voyage to the scrap yard. Building costs were 1,892,823 pound sterling. After her completion was the yard bankrupt!
With a displacement of 22,200 long tons/22,600 tons (standard)-25,870 long tons/26,290 tons (maximum) were her dimensions 581 x 88 x 24 feet or 177 x 27 x 7,3 metres. The four Parsons steam turbines and 18 Babcock&Wilcox boilers supplied 27,000 hp allowing a speed of 20,79 knots during her trials. With a speed of 10 knots she had a range of 6,300 nautical miles and with 19 knots still a range of 4,100 nautical miles. Her crew numbered between the 752-1,100 men. The armament consisted of 2x5-13.5”guns, 16x1-4” guns, 4-4,7cm (3pdr0 guns and 3-21” submerged torpedo tubes.
