HMS Swift was a unique destroyer leader designed and built for the Royal Navy prior to World War I, another product of Admiral "Jackie" Fisher's relentless quest for speed.

Given only four weeks to produce their tender, the major shipyards - Cammell Laird, Thornycrofts, Fairfields, John Brown and Armstrong Whitworth - put forward designs.

The vessel was 340 feet (100 m), 1,680 tons, armed with four Mark VIII 4-inch guns and two 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes, and 30,000 shp (22,000 kW) oil-fired Parsons steam turbines with four shafts.

In trials over a measured mile at Skelmorlie in March 1909 she suffered a number of mechanical failures and never managed better than 35.099 knots, at a shocking fuel consumption of 27.5 tons/hour out of a total stock of only 180 tons.

Her weak armament, and high cost caused Arthur Wilson to note "I do not think we require any repetition of Swift in the immediate future."

Due to the poor performance of the 6-inch gun, it was replaced during repairs in May 1917 by two QF 4-inch Mk V.[3] In the spring of 1918 she was with the Offshore Squadron during the First Ostend Raid.