HMS Ambuscade was a British Royal Navy destroyer which served in the Second World War. She and her Thornycroft competitor, HMS Amazon, were prototypes designed to exploit advances in construction and machinery since World War I and formed the basis of Royal Navy destroyer evolution up to the Tribal of 1936.

She was launched at Yarrow on 15 January 1926, served in World War II, and was broken up at Troon in 1946.

In November 1923, the Admiralty issued a request to the major British shipyards specialising in destroyers for designs for the first destroyers to be built for the Royal Navy since the end of the First World War. The ships were required to carry a similar armament to that of the preceding war-built W-class destroyers (i.e. four 4.7 in (120 mm) guns and six 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes) but to have a longer range, at least 5,000 nautical miles (9,300 km; 5,800 mi) at cruising speed. A speed of at least 34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph) was required, and the ships were to be no more than 315 feet (96.01 m) long between perpendiculars (pp).

The winning designs were those from Yarrow and Thornycroft, and orders for one ship each placed in June 1924. Yarrow's design, which became HMS Ambuscade, was smaller and lighter (307 feet (93.57 m) long (pp) and 1,585 long tons (1,610 t) full load displacement) than Thornycroft's Amazon (311 feet 9 inches (95.02 m) pp long and 1,812 long tons (1,841 t) full load). The ship was fitted with Yarrow's distinctive inward sloping stern, which Yarrow claimed increased the ship's speed by up to 1 knot (1.9 km/h; 1.2 mph) compared to a conventional V-shaped stern.

In order to provide the increased fuel economy required by the specification, Ambuscade was fitted three 4-drum Yarrow boilers with air pre-heating, working at a pressure of 290 pounds per square inch (2,000 kPa) and 200 °F (111 °C) of superheat. These fed geared steam turbines and drove two propeller shafts. The machinery was rated at 35,500 shaft horsepower (26,500 kW).

The main gun armament of Ambuscade consisted of four 4.7 inch BL Mk I guns. These guns fired a 50 pounds (23 kg) shell to a range of 15,800 yards (14,400 m) at a rate of about 5–6 rounds per gun per minute, with 190 shells carried per gun. (Later destroyers were fitted with QF guns firing cased charges and giving a higher rate of fire). Anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 2-pounder pom-poms (with 100 rounds per gun) and four Lewis guns. Torpedo armament consisted of the required six 21 inch torpedo tubes, in two triple mounts.

The ship's armament went through a number of changes during the Second World War. By April 1941, the aft triple torpedo-tube mount was replaced by a 3-inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun. Further changes included the addition of two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon, the removal of two 4.7 inch guns ("A"- and "Y"-mount), replacement of the ships rangefinder and director with radar, fitting of the Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar and a heavier depth charge outfit. The ship's Hedgehog mount and remaining torpedo tubes were removed when the ship was fitted with two Squid launchers in May 1943.

Ambuscade was laid down at Yarrow's Glasgow shipyard on 8 December 1924 and was launched on 14 January 1926. During speed trials on 2 March 1927, Ambuscade reached an average speed of 36.88 knots (68.30 km/h; 42.44 mph). She was commissioned on 9 April 1927.