Her Majesty's 30-knot torpedo destroyer Orwell was launched from Laird Brothers Works, Birkenhead, on the 29th of September 1898, by Mrs. G. M. Jackson the daughter of the late Mr. Henry Laird. The Orwell was the fifteenth 30-knot destroyer built by Laird Brothers; ten had already been delivered to the British Admiralty, and four to the Chilean Government.