HMS Wolsey number became G40 in June 1918; it was changed to D98 during the interwar period. Upon completion, "Wolsey" was assigned to the Grand Fleet, based at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands, in which she served for the rest of World War I. After the conclusion of World War I, "Wolsey" served in the Atlantic Fleet. In the late 1920s, she operated on the China Station. After the British river steamer SS "Kutwo" collided with and sank a Chinese troop-carrying launch on the Yangtze River and Chinese authorities threatened to seize her at Nanking in early March 1927, "Wolsey" arrived
Naval warfare of World War I ships to get close enough to conduct coastal bombardment or support attacks. The first battleship sinking in the war — that of — was the result of her striking a naval mine on 27 October 1914. Suitably placed mines also served to restrict the freedom of movement of submarines. The North Sea was the main theater of the war for surface action. The British Grand Fleet took position against the German High Seas Fleet. Britain's larger fleet could maintain a blockade of Germany, cutting it off from overseas trade and resources. Germany's fleet remained mostly in harbor behind their screen