"Triumph" was recommissioned using the crews of demobilised river gunboats, supplemented with two officers, 100 enlisted men, and six signallers from the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, and was ready for sea on 6 August 1914. "Triumph" took part in operations off the German colony of Tsingtao, China in early August 1914, with the intention of stopping German shipping entering or returning to the port. "Triumph", together with the , captured the German merchant ship "Senegambia", laden with coal and cattle, on the morning of 21 August, with "Dupliex" then chasing and eventually capturing a second merchant ship, the "C. Ferd Laeiz". On the evening of 21 August, "Triumph" captured the German merchant ship "Frisia", also carrying coal and cattle. On 23 August 1914, she was attached to the Imperial Japanese Navy's Second Fleet, and after disembarking her Army volunteers at Wei-hai-wei, participated in the campaign against the German colony at Tsingtao. In September, "Triumph", together with the destroyer , escorted a convoy carrying British troops for operations against Tsingtao, with "Triumph" taking part in several bombardments of German positions until the capture of Tsingtao by the Japanese. "Triumph" was hit by a German shell during a bombardment on 14 October, damaging a mast, and killing one crewman and wounding two more. With Tsingtao in Japanese hands, "Triumph" returned to Hong Kong for a refit on 19 November 1914.