HMS Campbell was one of five Admiralty type flotilla leaders ordered from Cammell Laird (3) and Hawthorn Leslie (2) in April 1917.

[2] The ship's machinery consisted of four Yarrow boilers that fed steam at 250 pounds per square inch (1,700 kPa) to two sets of Parsons single-reduction geared-steam turbines, rated at 40,000 shaft horsepower (30,000 kW).

[3] Up to 504 tons of oil fuel could be carried, giving a range of 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[15] In September 1922, as a result of the Chanak Crisis, there was a large scale redeployment of warships from British home waters to the eastern Mediterranean.

[17] On 21 March 1937, with the Spanish Civil War ongoing, Campbell and the destroyer Blanche evacuated 450 child refugees from Bilbao to Île d'Oléron, France.

[20] Following the outbreak of the Second World War, Campbell underwent a refit which continued until February 1940,[21] when she took part in convoy escort operations in the North Sea and the Western Approaches.

[24] Campbell took part in evacuation operations from Harstad and Andfjorden between 3 and 12 June 1940,[25] before returning to convoy escort duties, supplementing them by anti-invasion patrols.

[26][27] On the night of 19/20 November, Campbell and the Hunt-class destroyer Garth were on patrol east of Lowestoft when they encountered three Schnellboot (S-boats or German motor torpedo boats), S38, S54 and S57.

These shells seriously damaged Garth, causing loss of all steam and electrical power and immobilising the ship (which had to be towed back to port), and killed two men.

[22][30][31][32][33] Campbell was one of six destroyers that were ordered to reinforce Dover Command on 3 February 1942, in anticipation that the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen would attempt to return from Brest in German-occupied France to Germany.

[20] From 2 to 7 September 1942, Campbell formed part of the escort of the Arctic convoy PQ 18 on its initial leg from Loch Ewe to Iceland.

[22] On 13 May 1945, Campbell formed part of the escort for the cruiser Devonshire and the fast minelayers Apollo and Ariadne as they carried the Norwegian Government-in-Exile and Crown Prince Olav home from exile to Oslo.

[45] Campbell went into reserve after the end of the Second World War,[22] and was transferred on 18 February 1947 to BISCO for scrapping and was broken up by Metal Industries of Rosyth from 30 March 1948.