The Admiralty rejected the offer in February 1908, but in April two destroyers, Tiger and Gala, were lost in accidents and it was decided to order the two stock ships from Palmer's as replacements.

A provisional order for the two ships was placed on 8 May 1908, at a price of £60,000 each, depending on successful trials, with a speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) being required.

[6] Unlike most "thirty-knotter"s, the new ships were powered by steam turbines rather than triple expansion engines, with four Reed boilers feeding steam at 250 pounds per square inch (1,700 kPa) to Parsons direct drive turbines which drove two shafts, generating 6,000 shaft horsepower (4,500 kW).

[9] The ship's stem was higher than earlier turtleback destroyers, while rather than the narrow conning tower of the earlier destroyers, Albacore had a full width bridge situated further aft, which was claimed by Palmer's to make the ship much dryer in heavy seas.

[9] It was hoped that the two ships, which were both afloat and in good condition, could be accepted quickly, and delivery was expected within two to three months of the order being placed.

[23] On 19 July 1918, she attended the rescue operations of SM UB-110, arriving late on the scene after an alleged massacre she picked up five survivors, including the captain, but one of them, the engineer officer died on deck immediately after being taken out of the water.

The Bonetta's duties around that time had included picking up many, badly wounded, survivors, and dead, from fishing boats, which had been shelled by a German submarine, off the entrance to the Tyne.

The first lieutenant on board was to relate "A few weeks later we entered the Tyne for bunkers, which we obtained from a collier lying at Jarrow.

On another occasion... we were ordered out to search for several German prisoners, who had succeeded in escaping from Stobo camp, near Peebles in South Scotland and had set off for Germany in a fishing boat, which they had taken from the beach, somewhere North of Blyth.