The Colony-class ships displaced about at standard load and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . The ships were powered by four Parsons geared steam turbines, each driving one shaft, using steam provided by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers. The turbines developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The Colony class carried a maximum of of fuel oil that gave them a range of at . The ships' complement was 733 officers and men in peacetime and 900 during war.