The squadron was assigned to the Grand Fleet in mid-1914 as the Navy mobilised for war. It spent much of its time with the Grand Fleet reinforcing the patrols near the Shetland and Faeroe Islands and the Norwegian coast where "Argyll" captured a German merchantman on 6 August. She ran aground on the Bell Rock near Dundee on 28 October 1915 at coordinates at night during a storm. During the war, lighthouses were ordered to switch their lights off for fear of assisting German U-boats in their operations, and the light was only turned on by special permission. En route "Argyll" sent a signal requesting the light to be turned on, but the lighthouse did not have a radio and could only contacted by boat or visual signals. Attempts to notify the lighthouse failed, but the ship was not notified of the failure and proceeded in the expectation of using the light. Soon afterwards, she ran aground at 04:30, suffering extensive damage to much of the hull and starting a fire. Two destroyers, and , were sent and rescued her entire crew without serious injury.