Sources do not indicate when Lesbian's keel was laid, but she was launched on 3 April 1915, and completed by July of the same year.

Lesbian was defensively armed against attacks by submarines, but available sources provide no indication of what size or how many guns with which she was equipped.

[2] Little information is available about Lesbian's short career, but details about her final voyage suggest that she may have been employed in cargo service between India and the United Kingdom.

While 125 nautical miles (232 km) from there on 5 January 1917, she encountered U-35, under the command of Kapitänleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière.

[3][4] Although complete details of U-35's attack on Lesbian are not reported in sources, von Arnauld de la Perière's typical method of attack was to open fire with his submarine's 4.1-inch (100 mm) deck gun from a distance of 6,000 yards (5,500 m) and close to 3,000 yards (2,700 m).