Intended as a shore bombardment vessel, M17's primary armament was a single 9.2 inch Mk X gun which had been held as a spare for the Drake-class cruiser and Cressy-class cruiser.

She was equipped with Triple Expansion steam engines rated to 800 horse power that allowed a top speed of eleven knots.

HMS M17 was ordered in March 1915, as part of the War Emergency Programme of ship construction.

She was laid down at the William Gray shipyard at Hartlepool in March 1915, launched on 12 May 1915, and completed in July 1915.

M17 served in the Mediterranean from August 1915 to October 1918, and in the Baltic from March to September 1919.