After commissioning "Electra" was assigned to the Chatham Division of the Harwich Flotilla. She was deployed in home waters for her entire service life. On 1 January 1901 she was commissioned by Lieutenant Bertram Sutton Evans as part of the Portsmouth instructional flotilla, taking the place and crew from . In June 1902 she took the place of in the Portsmouth instructional flotilla, under the command of Lieutenant Rowland Henry Bather, but he transferred to after two months. The destroyer took part in the fleet review held at Spithead on 16 August 1902 for the coronation of King Edward VII.