HMS Forward was the name ship of her class of two scout cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the first decade of the 20th century.

After the beginning of the First World War in August 1914, she was assigned to coastal defence duties on the East Coast of England.

Forward was present when the Germans bombarded Hartlepool in mid-December 1914, but played no significant role in the battle.

The engines were designed to produce a total of 16,500 indicated horsepower (12,300 kW) which was intended to give a maximum speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph).

[2] When Forward ran her sea trials, she reached a speed of 25.2 knots (46.7 km/h; 29.0 mph) from 15,018 ihp (11,199 kW) for eight hours.

[3] The Forward-class cruisers carried enough coal to give them a range of 3,400 nautical miles (6,300 km; 3,900 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

[4] The main armament of the Forward class consisted of ten quick-firing (QF) 12-pounder 3 in (76 mm) 18-cwt guns.

On the morning of 16 December the Germans bombarded Hartlepool, led by the battlecruisers Seydlitz and Moltke and the armoured cruiser Blücher.

[8] Early in 1919, under the command of Arthur Bedford, Forward rescued members of the Tolstoy family from the evacuation of Odessa, about to be captured by the Bolsheviks.