full, with overseas patrols in the Heligoland Bight.
During the first three months of the war, two of the class were lost in the North Sea - D5 hitting a mine, and D2 going on patrol never to be heard of again.
Towards the end of the war, two more of the class were lost - D3 was accidentally sunk in the English Channel in March 1918, and three months later D6 was sunk by a U-Boat off the north coast of Ireland.
Of the remainder, D1 was sunk deliberately as a target in October 1918 whilst D4, D7 and D8 survived the war, to be taken out of service in July 1919, bringing to an end the great D Class era.
