Stongbow was sunk on 17 October 1917 by the German light cruisers SMS Bremse and Brummer in the North Sea, when escorting a convoy of merchant ships from Norway.

[8] Strongbow was one of eight destroyers detached to Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, with the duty of escorting the regular convoys from Scandinavia to the United Kingdom.

In the morning of 17 October, the convoy was attacked by two German light cruisers, the Bremse and Brummer, about 70 nautical miles (130 km; 81 mi) east of Lerwick.

Strongbow sighted two unknown ships at 06:00, in poor visibility, and believing them to be Royal Navy cruisers, challenged them with recognition signals.

Strongbow quickly received heavy damage and was immobilised, and after ensuring that all confidential papers had been destroyed, the captain ordered the surviving crew to abandon ship.