"Dartmouth" was laid down by Vickers at their Barrow shipyard on 19 February 1910, one of four Town-class protected cruisers ordered under the 1909–1910 Naval Estimates.The four 1909–10 ships, also known as the "Weymouth" class, were an improved version of five similar Town-class ships laid down under the 1908–1909 Estimates, known as the "Bristol" class, with a heavier main armament of eight 6 inch (152 mm) Mk XI guns, compared with the two 6 inch and ten 4 inch of the earlier ships.