Five ships of the class were built, which had been designed in 1874 by the Royal Navy's Chief Constructor, William Henry White.

[1] The original design, as fitted to the first two ships of the class, was a single-expansion returning-rod steam engine, but the power was insufficient, and they failed to meet the contracted speed.

Wild Swan and Penguin were re-engined after their first commission to match the better engines in the rest of the class.

[1] All the ships of the class were provided with a barque rig,[1] that is, square-rigged foremast and mainmast, and fore-and-aft sails only on the mizzen mast.

Identical in many respects, the Doterels lacked the graceful clipper bow of the Ospreys, although they benefited from more power.