HMS Ostrich was a Fairfield three-funnel, 30-knot torpedo boat destroyer ordered by the Royal Navy under the 1898 – 1899 Naval Estimates.

[5][6] As with other early Royal Navy destroyers, the design of Ostrich was left to the builder, with the Admiralty laying down only broad requirements.

[6] Four Thornycroft boilers, with their out-takes routed to three funnels, drove triple-expansion steam engines rated at 6,300 indicated horsepower (4,700 kW).

[3][4] Ostrich was commissioned at Devonport on 4 January 1902,[11] and was assigned to the Channel Fleet to serve in the instructional flotilla.

[14] On 30 August 1912 the Admiralty directed that all destroyer classes were to be designated by alphabetic characters starting with the letter 'A'.

[19] The 8th Flotilla was deployed to move to Rosyth immediately prior to the outbreak of the war to provide local defence for the Firth of Forth.