[2] For surface running, the boats were powered by two 600-brake-horsepower (447 kW) diesels, each driving one propeller shaft.

On the surface, the D class had a range of 2,500 nautical miles (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

The Flotilla, including D5 was assigned to patrol in the east end of the English Channel during the passage of the British Expeditionary Force to France in early August.

[4][5] On 21 August 1914, D5 was on patrol west of Heligoland when she spotted a force of German warships that were carrying out a sortie into the North Sea against British fishing vessels.

In 2016 Historic England commissioned an investigation of the wreck site by Wessex Archaeology as part of Archaeological Services in Relation to Marine Protection, a two-year project to assess a selection of underwater sites around the English coast.