The first HMS Zulu was a Tribal (or F-) class destroyer launched 16 September 1909 at Hawthorn Leslie Shipyard and commissioned in March 1910. She was mined during the First World War, on 27 October 1916 off Dover in a minefield lain by the Imperial German submarine UC-1. Her stern was blown off and sank, but the forward section remained afloat. It was towed into port and attached to the stern of , which had been torpedoed, to form a new destroyer named . Construction and design Zulu was one of five Tribal-class destroyers ordered by the British Admiralty in January 1908 under the 1907–1908 shipbuilding programme for the Royal Navy. The Tribal-class destroyers were to be powered by steam turbines and use oil-fuel rather than coal, and be capable of , but detailed design was left to the builders, which meant that individual ships of the class differed greatly. Zulu was long overall and between perpendiculars, with a beam of and a draught of . Normal displacement was , with deep load displacement . Six Yarrow boilers fed steam to Parsons steam turbines, giving and driving three propeller shafts. The main high-pressure turbine drove the centre shaft, with the outer shafts being fitted with low-pressure turbines, together with cruise and astern turbines. The outtakes from the boilers were fed to four funnels. Range was at . Gun armament consisted of two guns, with two torpedo tubes comprising the ship's torpedo armament. The ship had a complement of 71. Zulu was laid down at Hawthorn Leslie's Hebburn, Tyneside shipyard on 18 August 1908. Construction was slowed by industrial action, and the ship was not launched until 16 September 1909, with the ship crossing the River Tyne on launching, colliding with a jetty. After successful sea trials in December 1909, Zulu was commissioned on 19 March 1910. Service On commissioning, Zulu joined the 1st Destroyer Flotilla of the Home Fleet. She remained part of the 1st Flotilla until 1913, when she transferred to the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, based at Portsmouth. In October that year, the Tribals were officially designated the F class, and as such the letter "F" was painted on the bows of the class. In February 1914, the Tribals (including Zulu), whose range was too short for effective open sea operations, were sent to Dover, forming the 6th Destroyer Flotilla. On the outbreak of the First World War the