The reduction in size resulted in the ships' seaworthiness being adversely affected,[2] with the 1911 torpedo boats and the similar craft of the 1912 programme acquiring the disparaging nickname "Admiral Lans' cripples".

[1][3] In July 1912, shortly before the outbreak of the First Balkan War, two of the under-construction 1911 Vulcan torpedo boats, V5 and V6 were sold to Greece as part of an urgent programme to build up the strength of the Greek Navy, becoming Keravnos and Nea Genea.

The new V5, yard number 319, was launched from Vulcan's Stettin, Prussia (now Szczecin in Poland) shipyard on 25 April 1913 and commissioned on 17 July that year.

[3] 107 tonnes (105 long tons) of coal and 78 tonnes (77 long tons) of oil were carried, giving a range of 1,190 nautical miles (2,200 km; 1,370 mi) at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) or 490 nautical miles (910 km; 560 mi) at 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph).

[11] The British and German Forces met on the morning of 24 January in the Battle of Dogger Bank.

[12] V5, along with sister ship V1 and the torpedo boat S178 lagged behind the rest of the German force owing to engine troubles.

V5 launched two torpedoes, neither of which hit their targets, but shortly after V5's attack, Admiral Beatty ordered the British battlecruisers to alter course away from the German line after sighting an apparent periscope.

While no submarines were present, it is possible that one of V5's torpedoes, breaking surface at the end of its run, was mistaken for a periscope.

[3] V5 survived the war, and was one of the twelve destroyers (with four more in reserve) that the Reichsmarine was allowed to retain under the Treaty of Versailles.