In May 1902, the British Admiralty issued an invitation to tender to several shipbuilding yards for a new type of small cruiser, intended to act as leaders for flotillas of destroyers. The new ships required high speed to keep up with the destroyers, good seaworthiness and good communications equipment, but as they were only intended to fight destroyer-type vessels, a heavy armament was not specified. The Admiralty produced a broad specification for the ships, normal practice at the time for destroyers, requiring a speed of , a range of , light armour and an armament of ten 12-pounder (3 inch, 76 mm) guns, eight 3-pounder (47mm) guns and two torpedo tubes.