"Aylwin" was commissioned into the U.S. Navy on 17 January 1914, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Leigh C. Palmer, the former naval aide of U.S. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. Following a short cruise to Cuba, "Aylwin" conducted operations off the North Carolina coast in April. On 6 April, she and sister ships and were exercising off the North Carolina coast, about off the Diamond Shoals lightship. An explosion ripped through the forward fire room on "Aylwin", injuring three men. "Benham" loaded the three wounded sailors and sped to the naval hospital at Norfolk, Virginia, while "Parker" took on the remainder of "Aylwin"s crew. One of the injured men died on "Benham" before landfall was made in Virginia; another died a short time later. The crews of all three destroyers raised $250 to help defray funeral expenses for the widow of one of the men.