The "Bristol" sub-class was intended for a variety of roles including both trade protection and duties with the fleet. They were long overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Displacement was normal and at full load. Twelve Yarrow boilers fed "Bristol"s Brown-Curtis steam turbines, driving two propeller shafts, that were rated at for a design speed of . The ship reached during her sea trials from . The ship's experimental two-shaft layout was very successful, giving greater efficiency, especially at lower speeds, than the four-shaft arrangement of her sister ships. The boilers used both fuel oil and coal, with of coal and tons of oil carried, which gave a range of at . in 1912 HMS Bristol became the first warship to run on superheated steam from her twelve boilers, enabling even greater speeds as well as fuel economies.