The design was based on a modified version of the British River-class destroyer, 13 of which were planned under the 1904 Naval Estimates, but were cancelled before orders were placed.

In October 1905 the newly appointed Naval Officer Commanding the Commonwealth Naval Forces (the post-Federation amalgamation of the Australian colonial navies), Captain William Creswell, proposed a navy of three large cruiser-destroyers (capable of dealing with commerce raiders), plus 16 smaller destroyers and 15 torpedo boats for local defence.

A consortium of Fairfields and Dennys was chosen as the prime contractors, and the design was drawn by Prof. John H. Biles(GE) of Glasgow University, based on HMS Teviot, Yarrow's variant of the RN River Class.

[9] Senator George Pearce requested that they instead be named after famous navigators, but was overruled by Prime Minister Alfred Deakin.

[5][11] After completion, the two vessels were temporarily commissioned into the Royal Navy for the delivery voyage to Australia, although they reverted to the control of the Commonwealth Naval Forces on arrival in Broome.

[14] The three ships were assigned to the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, and participated in the capture of German New Guinea.

[5] After this, the destroyers were modified for anti-submarine warfare: the aftmost torpedo tube was removed and replaced with depth charge rails.

[14] From August 1917, the six destroyers were based at Brindisi, Italy, assigned to patrol the Adriatic and prevent enemy submarines using it as a route to the Mediterranean.

[5][14] After a brief refit and leave period in England after the war's end, and the re-installation of their torpedo tubes at Malta, the six destroyers returned to Australian waters in March 1919.

[14] After decommissioning, Parramatta and Swan were stripped down and sold to the NSW Penal Department for use as prisoner accommodation on the Hawkesbury River.