Along with her three sister ships, , , and , "Thüringen" participated in all of the major fleet operations of World War I in the North Sea against the British Grand Fleet. This included the Battle of Jutland on 31 May and 1 June 1916, the largest naval battle of the war. "Thüringen" was involved in the heavy night fighting at Jutland, including the destruction of the armored cruiser . The ship also saw action against the Imperial Russian Navy in the Baltic Sea, where she participated in the unsuccessful first incursion into the Gulf of Riga in August 1915.