HMS Bellona was one of two Boadicea class

Boadicea class cruiser

The Boadicea class was a two ship class of scout cruisers of the Royal Navy, consisting of HMS Bellona and HMS Boadicea. They were the first class to be fitted with turbine machinery, propulsion which became standard for all future cruisers...

 scout cruiser

Scout cruiser

A scout cruiser was a type of warship of the early 20th Century, which were smaller, faster, more lightly armed and armoured than protected cruisers or light cruisers, but larger than contemporary destroyers...

s which served with the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. She was launched from Pembroke Dockyard on 20 March 1909 and completed in February 1910.

The class was designed to combine the speed of a destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

 with the hitting power of a light cruiser

Light cruiser

A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...

 but her experience in both peace and war highlighted the flawed nature of the concept. She proved barely fast enough, at 25 knots (49 km/h) to keep up with the River class destroyer

River class destroyer

The River-class destroyer was a heterogeneous class of torpedo boat destroyer built to assorted builders' designs for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century, which saw extensive service in World War I...

s of the 2nd Flotilla in 1909, despite being the Senior Officer's ship, and was removed from the flotilla entirely in 1912 when outpaced by the new 27 knots (52.9 km/h) Acorn class

Acorn class destroyer

The Acorn class was a class of twenty destroyers of the Royal Navy all built under the 1909-1910 Programme, and completed between 1910 and 1911...

 destroyers.

In August 1914 she joined the Grand Fleet as the First World War broke out, and was attached to the First Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow

Scapa Flow

right|thumb|Scapa Flow viewed from its eastern endScapa Flow is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray, South Ronaldsay and Hoy. It is about...

. She was present at the Battle of Jutland

Battle of Jutland

The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...

, but was removed to the back of the fleet for safety as the capital ships engaged the enemy, and did not directly see action. She was converted to a minelayer

Minelayer

Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...

 in June 1917 and laid 306 mines in four missions. After the end of the war she was considered surplus to post war requirements. She was paid off in 1919 and sold for scrapping on 9 May 1921 to Ward, of Lelant

Lelant

Lelant is a village in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the River Hayle estuary about 2½ miles southeast of St Ives and one mile west of Hayle....

.