HMS Brazen was a Clydebank three-funnel, 30-knot destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1895-1896 Naval Estimates.

In 1899 during the construction of these ships, steelmaker John Brown and Company of Sheffield bought J&G Thomson's Clydebank yard for £923,255 3s 3d.

After 30 September 1913, she was known as a C-class destroyer and had the letter 'C' painted on the hull below the bridge area and on either the fore or aft funnel.

[6] In 1914 she was in active commission at the Nore based at Shearness tendered to HMS Actaeon, a Royal Navy training establishment.

[7] NOTE: All tabular data under General Characteristics only from the listed Jane's Fighting Ships volume unless otherwise specified