Rosalind served as part of the Grand Fleet during the First World War, operating as an escort to other warships and in anti-submarine patrols alongside other destroyers of the coast of Scotland and Ireland.

After the Armistice that ended the wr, Rosalind was briefly paid off, then recommissioned and served with the Portsmouth local defence flotilla.

Rosalind was the first of three R-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty from John I. Thornycroft & Company in July 1915 as part of the Sixth War Construction Programme.

[1] The ships differed from the six preceding Thornycroft M-class built by the yard in having all geared steam turbines and the aft gun being raised on a bandstand.

A total of 296 long tons (301 t) of fuel oil was carried, giving a design range of 3,450 nautical miles (6,390 km; 3,970 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph).

[5] Armament consisted of three QF 4in Mk IV guns on the ship's centreline, with one on the forecastle, one aft on a raised bandstand and one between the second and third funnels.

[12] After the Armistice of 11 November 1918 that ended the war, the Royal Navy returned to a peacetime level of strength and both the number of ships and the amount of personnel in service needed to be reduced to save money.