Originally ordered by Chile, Tipperary and her sisters were bought by the Royal Navy at the outbreak of World War I.

[1] Late in that same year, she took charge of a detachment of destroyers from the 2nd Flotilla,[2] while in March 1916, Tipperary had rejoined the Harwich Force, being attached to the Fifth Light Cruiser Squadron.

Nicholas Jellicoe's account states that "Between 23:15 and 23:20 a lookout [on HMS Garland] ... saw what he thought were enemy ships on the starboard quarter".

[6] A few minutes later, Tipperary flashed the recognition signal and was immediately lit up by the searchlights of three German battleships and three light cruisers.

[8] 150 of her crew of 197 were killed in the action, a number of the survivors were rescued from the sea by the Imperial German Navy and transported back to Germany as prisoners of war.