Upon the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, the 5th Battle Squadron was assigned to the Channel Fleet and based at Portland. Their first task was to escort the British Expeditionary Force across the English Channel. A number of experimental paint schemes were tried during the first month of the war but these were quickly abandoned in favour of battleship grey. It was briefly planned to deploy the squadron to replace the ships lost during the Action of 22 September 1914 but the orders to transfer to the Medway were rescinded. The squadron transferred to Sheerness on 14 November 1914 to guard against a possible German invasion. While there, "London" was present when the battleship exploded. "London"s crew joined in the attempts to rescue survivors. The enquiry into the explosion was carried out aboard "London". The squadron returned to Portland on 30 December 1914.