The bridge was located on the poop deck and the ships were designed with a clipper bow and a slightly raked funnel.

[3] Shearwater was powered by a Thames Iron Works three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engine developing 1,400 indicated horsepower (1,000 kW) from four Belleville boilers and driving twin screws.

[3] Shearwater was commissioned at Chatham 24 October 1901 by Commander Charles Henry Umfreville, with a complement of 104 officers and men.

[10] The station itself was suspended in 1905, and the facilities at Esquimalt, British Columbia passed to the Canadian Department of Marine and Fisheries.

Shearwater and Algerine remained at Esquimalt, and in 1910 the Naval Service Bill was passed, creating the Royal Canadian Navy.

HMCS Rainbow was ordered south to cover their withdrawal to Esquimalt, all ships arriving safely a week later.

For the remainder of the war, she saw very limited duty as a Royal Canadian Navy support vessel on the Atlantic coast, mostly spent training with the CC-class submarines in Baddeck Bay.