Malta on 4 February, the ship was fitted with equipment not available in Australia at the time. Soon after, the ship was redeployed to Colombo, and employed on Indian Ocean patrols to search for the German raiders Wolf and Seeadler. In February 1917, a Sopwith Baby seaplane was acquired from for reconnaissance work; the first aircraft to be used by a RAN ship. This remained aboard until June, when Brisbane was sent back to Australia with orders to patrol the Western Australian coast. From October 1917, the cruiser was assigned to operations in the western Pacific in response to reports of German raider activity. Initially deployed to the Solomon Islands, Brisbane visited Nauru, the Gilbert Islands, and Fiji, before returning to duties in Australian waters in January 1918. On 21 October 1918, Brisbane departed for the eastern Mediterranean, and was between Colombo and Suez when World War I ended. The battle honour "Indian Ocean 1917" recognises the cruiser's wartime service. The ship reached Murdos in late November, and spent most of December operating with the Australian Destroyer Squadron, before visiting Smyrna and the Dardanelles. Brisbane reached the United Kingdom before the end of December 1918, and began refitting at Portsmouth. The most visible aspect of the refit was the installation of a tripod mast. The cruiser remained in British waters until 17 April 1919, when she departed from Portsmouth for home. During the return trip, she caught up with the submarine depot ship and the six J class submarines transferred from the Royal Navy to the RAN after the war, and relieved as their escort. was experiencing problems, and Brisbane took the boat under tow: the two vessels reached Sydney on 27 June. The cruiser operated in Australian waters until 4 August 1922, when she was decommissioned into reserve. Brisbane was reactivated on 14 April 1923. On 23 July 1924, she ran aground off Port Moresby, New Guinea; she was refloated later that day. From February until August 1925, the ship served with the Royal Navy's China Squadron as part of an exchange, with sent to Australia. While deployed with the China Squadron, Brisbane became the first RAN ship to visit Japan. The cruiser was placed back in reserve on 7 October, underwent a refit, and recommissioned on 17 November as a training ship attached to Flinders Naval Depot. A longer period of decommissioning and refit ran from 30 October