HMS Colne was a Thornycroft Type River class destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1903–1904 Naval Estimates.

After commissioning she was assigned to the East Coast Destroyer Flotilla of the 1st Fleet and based at Harwich.

On 11 April 1907, Colne and the destroyer Falcon collided in the Channel, badly damaging both ships.

On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed all destroyer classes were to be designated by alpha characters starting with the letter 'A'.

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

[6] With the fall of Tsingtao and the sinking of the SMS Emden, she was redeployed to the 5th Destroyer Flotilla in the Mediterranean Fleet in November 1914 accompanying HMS Triumph, to support the Dardanelles campaign.