The ship was assigned to the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron (1st BCS) for the duration of the war and participated in the Battle of Dogger Bank in early 1915, though she was still shaking down and did not perform well.

Apart from providing distant cover during the Second Battle of Heligoland Bight in 1917, she spent the rest of the war on uneventful patrols in the North Sea.

The ship was the oldest battlecruiser retained by the Royal Navy after the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty came into effect in 1922.

Upon Hood's return to service in 1931, Tiger was decommissioned and sold for scrap in 1932 in accordance with the terms of the London Naval Treaty of 1930.

Although Tiger was only 4 feet (1.2 m) longer and 1 foot 5.5 inches (0.4 m) wider than the previous battlecruiser, Queen Mary, she displaced almost 2,000 long tons (2,000 t) more than the older ship.

The sole (unofficial) figure for Tiger's daily fuel consumption of 1,245 long tons (1,265 t) a day at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph)[12] would have given a maximum endurance of 3,300 nautical miles (6,100 km; 3,800 mi).

[13] Four direct current electric dynamos with a total capacity of 750 kilowatts (1,010 hp) supplied the common ring main at 220 volts.

[14] Tiger mounted eight 45-calibre BL 13.5-inch Mk V guns in four twin hydraulically powered turrets, designated 'A', 'B', 'Q' and 'X' from front to rear.

High-tensile steel torpedo bulkheads 1.5 to 2.5 inches (38 to 64 mm) thick were fitted abreast the magazines and shell rooms.

[29] After the Battle of Jutland revealed the ship's vulnerability to plunging shellfire, around 295 long tons (300 t) of additional armour was added to the turret roofs, the decks over the magazines, and the bulkheads separating the 6-inch guns.

[32] After the Battle of Coronel and the deployment of three battlecruisers to hunt for the German East Asia Squadron, Tiger was ordered to cut short her firing trials off Berehaven.

Three out of her four dynamoes are out of action for an indefinite period, and her training is impeded by bad weather, which might continue for many weeks at this time of year, and at present is quite unprepared and inefficient.

[38] In the meantime, Blücher had been heavily damaged by fire from all the other battlecruisers; her speed had dropped to 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) and her steering gear had been jammed.

Rear-Admiral Sir Gordon Moore, temporarily commanding in New Zealand, thought that the signals meant for him to attack Blücher, which was about 8,000 yards (7,300 m) to the north-east, which he did, turning away from Hipper's main body.

Although most of the shell was deflected overboard, fragments penetrated the roof, damaged the left gun's breech mechanism and jammed the training gear, knocking the turret out of action.

Two minutes later, Beatty ordered a course change to east-southeast, positioning the British ships to cut off the German's line of retreat, and signalled action stations.

Hipper ordered his ships to turn to starboard, away from the British, to assume a south-easterly course, and reduced speed to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) to allow three light cruisers of the 2nd Scouting Group to catch up.

[51] Tiger, following in Queen Mary's wake at a distance of only 500 yards (460 m), had to put her helm hard-a-starboard to avoid colliding with the wreckage.

[52] At 16:30, the light cruiser Southampton, scouting in front of Beatty's ships, spotted the lead elements of the High Seas Fleet coming north at top speed.

[54] The German battlecruisers made their own turn north in pursuit,[55] but Beatty's ships maintained full speed, and gradually moved out of range.

The British battlecruisers turned north, then north-east, to try to rendezvous with the main body of the Grand Fleet, and at 17:40 opened fire again on their German counterparts.

[56] Beatty gradually turned toward the east so his ships could cover the Grand Fleet as it deployed into battle formation, but he mistimed his manoeuvre and forced the leading British division further from the Germans.

He then ordered the two surviving ships of the 3rd BCS to take position astern of New Zealand, while slowing to 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and altering course to the south to stay close to the Grand Fleet.

However, the British had altered course to the south, allowing the Grand Fleet to cross Scheer's "T" and inflict damage on the leading German ships.

Tiger was hit a total of 18 times during the battle, mostly by shells fired by Moltke, suffering 24 men killed and 46 wounded.

The battlecruiser fired 303 shells from her main guns during the battle and is credited with one hit on Moltke and two on Von der Tann.

Scheer steered south-eastward pursuing a lone British battle squadron reported by an airship, which was in fact the Harwich Force under Commodore Tyrwhitt.

[24] For the remainder of the war, Tiger uneventfully patrolled the North Sea, as both fleets were essentially forbidden to risk any more losses.

She underwent a more extensive refit in 1918 which saw her topmast shifted to the top of the derrick-stump and a more substantial observation platform added to the foremast.

Although by the 1930s, Tiger was still in reasonable condition, the decision was taken to discard her following the London Naval Conference 1930 as part of an overall reduction in world battleship fleets.