She was used for local patrol duties in the First World War and was sunk following a collision in the North Sea on 26 July 1916.

The Cricket-class was intended as a smaller and cheaper supplement to the large, fast but expensive Tribal-class, particularly in coastal waters such as the English Channel.

[6] The fourth of the five torpedo-boats built by Thornycroft under the 1905–1906 programme was laid down as HMS Grasshopper at their Chiswick, London shipyard on 1 November 1905.

[10] On 23 November 1914, the German submarine U-21 stopped and sunk the merchant ship Malachite on the approaches to Le Havre.

Traffic between Southampton and Le Havre was stopped, with French destroyers and torpedo boats carrying out a sweep of the area with the hope of driving the submarine away.