Departing the United Kingdom on 31 August 1921, the ships crossed the North Sea and transited the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to enter the Baltic, where they called at Danzig in the Free City of Danzig; Memel in the Klaipėda Region; Liepāja, Latvia; Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden; Copenhagen, Denmark; Gothenburg, Sweden; and Kristiania, Norway, before crossing the North Sea and ending the voyage at Port Edgar, Scotland, on 15 October 1921.

On 7 April 1940, Venetia, the destroyer HMS Wakeful and the sloops Enchantress and Sandwich joined Convoy HG24 as its escort for the final stage of its voyage from Gibraltar to Liverpool.

A German shell, probably from a tank, hit Venetia, starting a fire aft and prompting her crew to jettison her torpedoes and burning Carley floats.

All heavy German guns fell silent after this and, given a reprieve, Venetia, which had taken seven hits and been unable to embark any troops, quickly refloated herself and backed out of the harbor at full speed at 20:48 hours.

[2][6] After spending the summer of 1940 undergoing repairs, Venetia returned to Nore Command in August 1940 and began convoy defence and patrol duties in the North Sea and Thames Estuary in September 1940.

On 19 October 1940, she struck a mine off Knob Buoy in the Thames Estuary 12 nautical miles (22 km) northwest of Margate, Kent, England, and sank at either 51°33′00″N 001°01′00″E / 51.55000°N 1.01667°E / 51.55000; 1.01667[2] or 51°33′00″N 001°10′00″E / 51.55000°N 1.16667°E / 51.55000; 1.16667[1] (sources differ).