HMS Serapis was an S-class destroyer, which served with the Royal Navy during the Greco-Turkish and Russian Civil Wars.

However, the signing of the London Naval Treaty in 1930 meant that the Royal Navy looked to retire older vessels.

Three Yarrow boilers fed steam to two sets of Brown-Curtis geared steam turbines rated at 27,000 shaft horsepower (20,000 kW) and driving two shafts, giving a design speed of 36 knots (67 km/h; 41 mph) at normal loading and 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) at deep load.

A full load of 301 long tons (306 t) of fuel oil was carried, which gave a design range of 2,750 nautical miles (5,090 km; 3,160 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).

[4] The ship was designed to mount two additional 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes either side of the superstructure but this required the forecastle plating to be cut away, making the vessel very wet, so they were removed.

[6] Laid down on 4 December 1917 by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton with the yard number 1101, Serapis was launched on 17 September 1918 and completed on 21 March 1919.

[7] The vessel was the fourth that served in the Royal Navy to be named after Serapis, the Egyptian god of healing.

[10] On 16 January 1920, Serapis, along with sister ships Somme and Steadfast, sailed into the Black Sea to assist in the evacuation of Russian officers' families.

On 22 April 1930, the United Kingdom signed the London Naval Treaty, which limited the total destroyer tonnage that the navy could operate.