In January 1915, German command ordered a reconnaissance mission of the Dogger Bank by Hipper. At his disposal were three battlecruisers, one armoured cruiser, three light cruisers and nineteen destroyers. The message ordering the German mission was intercepted by the Admiralty and Tyrwhitt's force was among the units deployed for the coming battle. Tyrwhitt's force began to depart Harwich at 5:30pm on 23 January. "Aurora" was among the ships that had departed after their commander and when Tyrwhitt met with Admiral David Beatty's force the next morning, "Aurora" and the majority of Tyrwhitt's force was astern. However, "Aurora" and the majority of Tyrwhitt's force encountered Hipper's fleet at 7:05am on 24 January, with the cruiser spotting a three-funneled cruiser and four destroyers on the horizon. "Aurora" closed to and challenged the ship, believing it to be Tyrwhitt's flagship, . The German cruiser opened fire on "Aurora" in response, hitting the ship three times. "Aurora" returned fire and sent a signal to the fleet that she was in battle. The German armoured cruiser was sunk. The light cruisers were ordered to standby to assist the crew of the sunken German cruiser. However, they came under air attack and the rescue efforts were cancelled.