HMS Fortune was an Acasta-class destroyer, and the twenty-first ship of the Royal Navy to bear the name.

[2] One by Parsons (Garland) had semi-geared turbines[3] giving a speed of 31 knots (57 km/h; 36 mph) on trials, with a seventh from Fairfields had a clipper bow.

[5] The ship was powered by four Yarrow-type water-tube boilers which fed Parsons steam turbines rated at 24,500 shaft horsepower (18,300 kW), which drove two shafts,[5] giving the destroyer a maximum speed of 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

[5] Fortune was laid down under the 1911–1912 construction programme by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and launched on 17 March 1913.

[6] She joined the 4th Destroyer Flotilla on completion and served with the Grand Fleet on the outbreak of World War I.

Six opposing ships, comprising the battleships Westfalen, Nassau and Rheinland and three cruisers, turned on their floodlights and opened up with their secondary armament.

The destroyers began to return fire and launched a torpedo attack, which led to a collision among the Germans.