After the Armistice that ended the war, the destroyer was initially placed in reserve and participated in a naval exercise in 1920, before being sold to be broken up in 1926.

[3] They were similar to the preceding Yarrow M class but distinguished by their greater tonnage, narrower beam and sloping sterns.

Power was provided by three Yarrow boilers feeding Parsons direct-drive steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW).

[10] Sabrina was laid down by Yarrow at their shipyard in Scotstoun, Glasgow, in November 1915, launched on 24 July 1916 and completed during September the same year.

[13] On 22 November, the flotilla took part in exercises north of the Shetland Islands under the dreadnought Iron Duke that also involved the majority of the First and Third Battle Squadrons.

[17] Nonetheless, on 15 October, Sabrina formed part of a large-scale operation, involving 30 cruisers and 54 destroyers deployed in eight groups across the North Sea in an attempt to stop a suspected sortie by German naval forces.

[18] Despite these measures, the German light cruisers Bremse and Brummer managed to attack the regular convoy between Norway and Britain two days later, sinking two destroyers, Mary Rose and Strongbow, and nine merchant ships before returning safely to Germany.

[19] 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.

[22] In July 1923, the Navy decided to scrap many of the older destroyers in preparation for the introduction of newer and larger vessels.