SS Chesterfield was a cargo vessel built for the Great Central Railway in 1913.

[2] The ship was built by Swan Hunter and launched in 1913.

She was the first of an order of two ships from Swan Hunter, the other being Macclesfield.

[3] She was requisitioned by the British Admiralty in October 1914 for use as a fleet messenger and renamed HMS Chesterfield.

On 18 May 1918 she was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea at 36°17′N 15°13′E / 36.283°N 15.217°E / 36.283; 15.217, 42 nautical miles (78 km) northeast by east of Malta, by the Imperial German Navy submarine SM UC-52 with the loss of four of her crew.