During the First World War she served in the North Sea and the English Channel with the 6th Destroyer Flotilla and as part of the Dover Patrol. It is assumed - though never definitely confirmed - that explosive sweeps deployed by the Afridi were responsible for the destruction of the German U-Boat UB-13, which on 23 April 1916 departed Zeebrugge for a patrol off the mouth of the Thames and was never heard from again.