"Aurora" saw service as part of Harwich Force from September 1914 to February 1915, as leader of the 1st Destroyer Flotilla. Based at Harwich under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, the unit was ordered to sea on 14 December 1914 as part of the force sent to intercept a German fleet under Admiral Franz von Hipper raiding towns on the east coast of England. However, the flotilla was prevented from intervening in the resulting engagement due to poor weather and returned to Yarmouth.