She underwent a refit at Gibraltar in February–March 1917, and on its completion was attached to the 9th Cruiser Squadron to serve on the Atlantic Patrol and on convoy escort duty, based mainly at Sierra Leone. She relieved the armoured cruiser as flagship of the 9th Cruiser Squadron in March and underwent a refit at Bermuda in May, during which her 6-inch guns were removed and replaced by four 6-inch guns in shielded pivot mounts on her shelter deck, in place of where the 12-pounder guns had been located.