[3] Hermione was laid down at Alexander Stephen and Sons Linthouse, Glasgow shipyard as Yard number 560 on 6 October 1937,[4][5] was launched on 18 May 1939 and completed on 25 March 1941.

[9] Hermione took part in the pursuit of the German battleship Bismarck and heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen when they sortied into the North Atlantic in May 1941.

Hermione left Scapa Flow on 22 May as part of a force including the battleship King George V and the aircraft carrier Victorious.

[13] Following the sinking of Bismarck, the British launched a major operation against German supply ships in the Atlantic which supported the operations of surface raiders, with Hermione taking part in searches for these supply ships and German blockade runners before joining Force H, based at Gibraltar on 22 June.

On 2 August 1941, whilst helping to protect a convoy, Hermione attacked by ramming the Italian submarine Tembien, sinking her;[15][16] an action commemorated in a propaganda painting by artist Marcus Stone.

Oliver, DSO, RN, Hermione was part of the Force A group which escorted supply convoy MW-11, under Rear Admiral Philip Vian, from Alexandria to Malta in Operation Vigorous.

Only then did U-205 recognize one of the shadows as a cruiser and fired a spread of three torpedoes at 00:19 hours, hitting Hermione on the starboard side.

The ship immediately settled by the stern with a list of 22° before ultimately capsizing, remaining afloat for 21 minutes before sinking.