During World War I, "Yamakaze" mostly served as a coastal patrol boat and did not participate in any battle. In September 1914 "Yamakaze", along with sister ship and the armored cruisers "Kurama", "Tsukuba" and "Asama" set out from Yokosuka to search for the German East Asia Squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee in the South Sea Islands. After the German cruiser was sunk in the Battle of Cocos by the Australian cruiser , the Japanese forces in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean were reorganised into two squadrons to search for von Spee's ships, with "Yamakaze" joining the Second Southern Squadron, based at Truk. On June 1, 1930, she was converted to a minesweeper and renamed "W-8". "Yamakaze" was scrapped on April 1, 1936.