Commissioned into service in the Italian Regia Marina (Royal Navy) in 1913, she served in World War I, playing an active role in the Adriatic campaign.

[3] On 11 July 1915 Ardente, Animoso, Ardito, and Audace escorted Quarto to the Palagruža (known to the Italians as Pelagosa) archipelago in the Adriatic Sea, where they landed the vanguard of an occupation force.

At 04:00 on 17 July 1915 Ardente, together with Giuseppe Garibaldi, Vettor Pisani, Ardito, Strale, Airone, Arpia, Astore, Calliope, Clio, the armored cruiser Varese, and the torpedo boats Alcione, Centauro, and Cigno, took part in a bombardment of the Ragusa–Cattaro railway.

On 3 August 1916 Ardente, commanded by an officer named Tagliavia, got underway together with the destroyer Giuseppe Cesare Abba to support an attack by nine Italian airplanes against Durrës (known to the Italians as Durazzo) in Albania, but during their voyage to the Albanian coast the two ships were diverted to Molfetta, Italy, which was under bombardment by an Austro-Hungarian force composed of the protected cruiser Aspern, the destroyers Warasdiner and Wildfang, and the torpedo boats TB 80 and TB 85.

[4] Ardente suffered a mechanical breakdown and had to fall back and join a squadron led by the French Navy destroyer Commandant Bory, which was coming up to reinforce the Italian ships.

[4] On the night of 13–14 August 1917 Ardente left Venice with Animoso, Audace, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, and the destroyers Carabiniere, Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Sirtori, Pontiere, and Vincenzo Giordano Orsini to intercept an Austro-Hungarian force made up of the destroyers Dinara, Reka, Sharfschutze, Streiter, and Velebit and six torpedo boats which had supported an air raid by 32 aircraft against the fortress of Venice which had struck San Giovanni e Paolo Hospital, killing 14 people and injuring around 30 others.

[4] On 29 September 1917 Ardente put to sea with Ardito and Audace and a second formation made up of Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Vincenzo Giordano Orsini, and the scout cruiser Sparviero to support a bombing raid by 10 Italian airplanes against Pola.

They encountered an Austro-Hungarian force composed of Streiter, Velebit, the destroyers Huszár and Turul, and four torpedo boats on a similar mission against an Italian airbase.

Another Austro-Hungarian destroyer took her in tow and both sides returned to port after an inconclusive exchange of fire inside the minefields later that night during the predawn hours of 30 September.

[4] On 10 February 1918 Ardente, Aquila, Ardito, Francesco Stocco, Giovanni Acerbi, and Giuseppe Sirtori — and, according to some sources, the motor torpedo boat MAS 18 — steamed to Porto Levante, now a part of Porto Viro, in case they were needed to support an incursion into the harbor at Bakar (known to the Italians as Buccari) by MAS motor torpedo boats.