SMS was a

protected cruiser Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers r ...

of the , built for the German Imperial Navy () in the 1890s. was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in 1895, launched in April 1897, and commissioned into the Navy in July 1898. The ship, named for the semi-legendary medieval town of

Vineta Vineta (sometimes ''Wineta'') is the name of a mythical city at the southern coast of the Baltic Sea. The myth evolved around the tradition about the medieval emporium called Jumne, Jomsborg (with which Vineta is sometimes identified), Julin or ...

, was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of . served abroad in the American Station for the first several years of her career. While on station in the Americas, she participated in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–1903 and bombarded several Venezuelan fortresses. She returned to Germany in 1905 and was used as a torpedo training ship in 1908. She was modernized in 1909–1911, after which she was used as a

school ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house class ...

for naval cadets. In November 1912, she participated in an international naval protest of the

First Balkan War The First Balkan War ( sr, Први балкански рат, ''Prvi balkanski rat''; bg, Балканска война; el, Αʹ Βαλκανικός πόλεμος; tr, Birinci Balkan Savaşı) lasted from October 1912 to May 1913 and invo ...

. At the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, was mobilized into V Scouting Group, but served in front-line duty only briefly. She was used as a

barracks ship A barracks ship or barracks barge or berthing barge, or in civilian use accommodation vessel or accommodation ship, is a ship or a non-self-propelled barge containing a superstructure of a type suitable for use as a temporary barracks for s ...

after 1915, and ultimately sold for scrapping in 1920.

Design

In the early 1890s, elements in the German naval command structure grappled with what type of cruiser ought to be built to fulfill the various needs of the fleet. The (RMA—Imperial Navy Office) preferred to build a combination of large cruisers of around along the lines of and significantly smaller vessels of about to support them, while the (Naval High Command) argued that a uniform force of cruisers was preferable. In the event, the RMA carried the day and three 6,000-ton cruisers were authorized in 1895. They resembled the larger s, designed at the same time, albeit at reduced scale. The new cruisers proved to be unsatisfactory as fleet cruisers, because they were too slow and they lacked sufficient armor protection. They nevertheless provided good service as overseas cruisers and later as

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

was long overall and had a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy * Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy ** Laser beam * Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized g ...

of and a

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a ves ...

of forward. As designed, she displaced , and at

full load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...

, her displacement rose to . Her propulsion system consisted of three vertical 4-cylinder

triple-expansion steam engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure ''(HP)'' cylinder, then having given up h ...

s, each driving a single

screw propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

, with steam provided by twelve coal-fired

Dürr boiler A Field-tube boiler (also known as a bayonet tube) is a form of water-tube boiler where the water tubes are single-ended. The tubes are closed at one end, and they contain a concentric inner tube. Flow is thus separated into the colder inner flow ...

s. Her engines were rated for , and provided a top speed of . The ship had a range of approximately at . She had a crew of 31 officers and 446 enlisted men. The ship was armed with a

main battery A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...

of two SK L/40 guns in single

gun turret A gun turret (or simply turret) is a mounting platform from which weapons can be fired that affords protection, visibility and ability to turn and aim. A modern gun turret is generally a rotatable weapon mount that houses the crew or mechani ...

s, one forward and one aft. The guns were supplied with 58 rounds of ammunition each. They had a range of . also carried a

secondary battery A rechargeable battery, storage battery, or secondary cell (formally a type of energy accumulator), is a type of electrical battery which can be charged, discharged into a load, and recharged many times, as opposed to a disposable or pri ...

of eight SK L/40 guns. Four were mounted in turrets amidships and the other four were placed in

casemate A casemate is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired, in a fortification, warship, or armoured fighting vehicle.Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary When referring to antiquity, the term "casemate wall" mean ...

s, two abreast the conning tower and the others abreast the

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation li ...

. These guns had a range of . She also carried ten SK L/35 guns for defense against

torpedo boat A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...

s. The gun armament was rounded out by ten Maxim machine cannon. She was also equipped with three

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed abo ...

s with eight torpedoes, two launchers were mounted on the broadside and the third was in the bow, all below the waterline. The ship was protected with Krupp armor; their deck was on the horizontal with sloped sides that were thick. Her main and secondary battery turrets had 10 cm thick sides and the secondary casemates had the same level of protection. The conning tower had 15 cm thick sides.

Service history

was ordered under the contract name "M" and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

at the (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig in mid-1896. She was launched on 9 December 1897, and

Friedrich von Hollmann Friedrich von Hollmann (19 January 1842 – 21 January 1913) was an Admiral of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) and Secretary of the German Imperial Naval Office under Emperor Wilhelm II. Naval career Hollmann was born in Berlin ...

gave a speech at the ceremony. After completing

fitting-out Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her ...

work, which included installing facilities for a divisional staff, she was commissioned into the German navy on 13 September 1899. Under the command of (''KzS''–Captain at Sea)

Hermann da Fonseca-Wollheim Hermann or Herrmann may refer to: * Hermann (name), list of people with this name * Arminius, chieftain of the Germanic Cherusci tribe in the 1st century, known as Hermann in the German language * Éditions Hermann, French publisher * Hermann, M ...

, the ship then began

sea trials A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

, which lasted until 24 March 1900; following these, she was sent back to the shipyard for repairs. In April, ''KzS'' von der Groeben relieved Fonseca-Wollheim, but he then died of a stroke on 19 May before could embark on her first major cruise abroad. As a result, Fonseca-Wollheim resumed command of the vessel. The ship then moved to

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland pe ...

to make preparations for the cruise, which began with s departure from Kiel on 26 May, bound for South America.

American Station

The ship reached

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindi ...

in the

Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc bet ...

on 14 June, where she joined the American Station, which had been disbanded for several years; the previous station ship, the

unprotected cruiser An unprotected cruiser was a type of naval warship in use during the early 1870s Victorian or pre-dreadnought era (about 1880 to 1905). The name was meant to distinguish these ships from “ protected cruisers”, which had become accepted in ...

, had been transferred away in 1898. then began a cruise along the coast of Venezuela and then through the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

. She visited

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

on 6 April, and from there, began a voyage south to visit the eastern coast of South America. In May, inspected

Margarita Island Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. Histor ...

off the coast of Venezuela for its potential as a naval base, but the Germans determined the port was insufficient for their purposes. The ship proceeded further southward, steaming as far as

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from ...

, Argentina, before returning north. She arrived back in Venezuelan waters by 1 August, stopping in

La Guaira La Guaira () is the capital city of the Venezuelan state of the same name (formerly named Vargas) and the country's main port. It was founded in 1577 as an outlet for Caracas, to the southeast. The town and the port were badly damaged during ...

. While there, she received orders to remain in the area to protect German nationals and business interests during the

Thousand Days' War The Thousand Days' War ( es, Guerra de los Mil Días) was a civil war fought in Colombia from 17 October 1899 to 21 November 1902, at first between the Liberal Party and the government led by the National Party, and later – after the Conser ...

that involved Venezuela and Colombia. The German naval command sent the unprotected cruiser and the old screw corvettes and . In addition to protecting Germans in the area, the deployment was intended as a show of force to compel the Venezuelan government to make reparations for grievances related to internal conflicts in the 1890s. On 6 October, two sailors from were arrested in

Caracas Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...

, Venezuela, prompting the cruiser to send a

landing party A landing party is a portion of a ship's crew designated to go ashore from the ship and take ground, by force if necessary. In the landing party promulgated by the US Navy 1950 Landing Party Manual, the party was to be equipped with small arms – ...

ashore in La Guaira to demand their release, which was quickly granted. Also that month, a German merchant vessel was fired upon off the coast of Venezuela; both of these incidents were resolved diplomatically. As the threat to German interests in the region proved to be less than expected, was sent to

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Unit ...

, United States, for periodic maintenance that lasted from 26 November to 17 December. While was under repair, ''KzS''

Oskar Stiege Oskar may refer to: * oskar (gene), the Drosophila gene * Oskar (given name), masculine given name See also * Oscar (disambiguation) Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name ...

arrived to replace Fonseca-Wollheim. During that period, the Germans left and in La Guaira, but at the end of the year, and left for home, though they were replaced by the light cruiser , which arrived in February 1902. returned to Newport News for another overhaul from 19 May to 25 September. While the ship was in

dry dock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

in June, Stiege fell ill and the ship's

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer, ...

, (Captain Lieutenant) Peter Lengerke, temporarily took command until ''KzS''

Georg Scheder Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 * Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) George is a surname of Irish, English, Welsh, South Indian Christian, Middle Eastern Christian (usually Lebanese), French, o ...

arrived in August. After emerging from dry dock in September, steamed to

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is defin ...

, Haiti. Earlier that month, in the middle of the civil war, the German

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-ste ...

had sunk the Haitian gunboat over the ''Markomannia'' incident. arrived later, allowing to return to Venezuelan waters.

Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903

By this time, tensions between Venezuela and Britain, Germany, and Italy had risen significantly over measures that the Venezuelan president,

Cipriano Castro José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (12 October 1858 – 4 December 1924) was a high-ranking member of the Venezuelan military, politician and the president of Venezuela from 1899 to 1908. He was the first man from the Andes to rule the country, and wa ...

, had imposed to try to suppress a rebellion, including a

blockade A blockade is the act of actively preventing a country or region from receiving or sending out food, supplies, weapons, or communications, and sometimes people, by military force. A blockade differs from an embargo or sanction, which ar ...

of several coastal cities. Castro also suspended payments toward foreign debts. The German naval command instructed their ships in the region to free any German merchant vessels that were seized by the Venezuelan Navy by force if necessary. No incidents involving German ships materialized, however, but the European powers concluded an agreement on 1 December to put an end to the blockade. By that time, Germany had assembled a cruiser division led by , and including , , and , along with the training ships and . The unit was formally organized as the East American Cruiser Division, and Scheder was given the title of (Commodore). On 7 December, the Europeans gave Castro an ultimatum, which he ignored. Scheder then began to seize or neutralize Venezuelan warships, along with the British protected cruiser and the destroyer , which were placed under his command. The ships carried out operations against the

Venezuelan Navy ) , mascot = , battles = Venezuelan War of Independence and the Battle of Lake Maracaibo , anniversaries = July 24, Birthday of Simon Bolivar, Navy Day and Battle of Lake Maracaibo A ...

between 10 and 14 December. Scheder sent to capture the gunboat while responded to a request for assistance from the German consul in La Guaira. She and ''Retribution'' send landing parties ashore to defend the consulate and then to protect British nationals in the area. On the 13th, the British merchant ship had been boarded and its crew arrested by Venezuelan forces. In response, the British protected cruiser bombarded the forts at

Puerto Cabello Puerto Cabello () is a city on the north coast of Venezuela. It is located in Carabobo State, about 210 km west of Caracas. As of 2011, the city had a population of around 182,400. The city is home to the largest and busiest port in the coun ...

, and enlisted in the attack. The ships shelled the fortresses and , destroying both, before freeing ''Topaze'' and her crew. The brazenness of the Anglo-German attack on the port convinced Castro to order the release of all British and German nationals who had been arrested. Because Castro refused to give into German and British demands, those countries declared a blockade of the Venezuelan coast on 20 December, which Italy also joined. At that time, the Germans had at their disposal , , , , , , and , which had been put in service with a German crew. The

HAPAG The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...

steamer served as the division's collier. By that time, the British Vice Admiral Archibald Douglas had arrived aboard his flagship, the protected cruiser ; as the most senior naval officer in the area, he relieved Scheder as the commander of the international squadron. On 4 January 1903, the German landing party was sent to occupy Puerto Cabello and seize the ships in the harbor. On 17 January, attacked Fort San Carlos in

Maracaibo ) , motto = "''Muy noble y leal''"(English: "Very noble and loyal") , anthem = , image_map = , mapsize = , map_alt = ...

, but was repulsed after her bow gun jammed and could not be returned to action; she could not maneuver in the confined waters to bring her other guns to bear. therefore was sent to silence the guns on 21 January. During the bombardment of the fort, fired a total of twenty 21 cm and eighty-six 15 cm shells, setting it afire and destroying the fortress. The Venezuelan gunners had already evacuated and suffered no casualties.''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', 23 January 1903
GERMAN COMMANDER BLAMES VENEZUELANS; Commodore Scheder Says That Fort San Carlos Fired First.
/ref> The United States, which viewed itself as the protector of South America under the

Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile a ...

, had initially ignored the European intervention but took an increasingly hostile view toward the Europeans as they became more aggressive, particularly after the attack on Fort San Carlos. The Europeans nevertheless requested the United States to arbitrate a settlement, which resulted in an agreement that Venezuela would receive all of the naval and civilian vessels that had been seized in return for resuming debt payments.

Subsequent activity

The East American Cruiser Division remained in existence after the conclusion of operations against Venezuela. embarked on a tour of ports in the West Indies, including

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional) , webs ...

, Haiti, where civil unrest had broken out. At some point during this period, one of s 15 cm ammunition magazines exploded, but did not cause major damage to the ship. The accident had significant long-term consequences, however, as it exposed the volatility of German propellant charges. The Germans therefore reworked the composition of the propellant, which was in service by 1914. This new, more stable propellant saved several German battlecruisers from destruction when their magazines were penetrated by British shells during

. She then steamed north to Halifax, Canada, for another overhaul that lasted from 27 June to 2 September. The other vessels of the division also dispersed to other ports for repairs, before rendezvousing in Saint Thomas in October. While lay there on 15 November, ''KzS'' Ludwig von Schröder arrived to replace Scheder as the commander of both the vessel and the division. cruised with the rest of the division through the West Indies in December 1903 and January 1904; this included a stop in New Orleans with the rest of the division in January. then visited Veracruz from 4 to 13 February before returning to various ports in the West Indies. She made another visit to New Orleans from 20 May to 11 July, during which time the ship was visited by President

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

. next steamed to Charlotte Amalie, the capital of Saint Thomas. At that time, the island belonged to Denmark, but due to the country's weak economy, the Danish government was interested in selling Saint Thomas. Germany considered acquiring the island as a

coaling station Fuelling stations, also known as coaling stations, are repositories of fuel (initially coal and later oil) that have been located to service commercial and naval vessels. Today, the term "coaling station" can also refer to coal storage and feedi ...

, but negotiations ultimately came to nothing. departed for a tour of the eastern coast of South America, stopping in several Brazilian ports before reaching

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

by October. While there on the 5th, received orders to cross the Atlantic to

German South West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

, which was then embroiled in a Herero rebellion against German colonial rule. The situation in the region was tense, as the neighboring Portuguese colony of

Angola , national_anthem = "Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

was delivering arms to the Herero rebels, and at the same time, the Russian

Second Pacific Squadron The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

had stopped to coal at Lüderitz Bay in German South West Africa, en route to its ultimate destruction at the

Battle of Tsushima The Battle of Tsushima (Japanese:対馬沖海戦, Tsushimaoki''-Kaisen'', russian: Цусимское сражение, ''Tsusimskoye srazheniye''), also known as the Battle of Tsushima Strait and the Naval Battle of Sea of Japan (Japanese: 日 ...

of the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

. was not directly involved in any action in the colony, instead only assisting the steamer in unloading soldiers, horses, and supplies, which had arrived on the night of 19–20 November. While she was in the area, was shadowed by the British cruiser and the Portuguese gunboat . steamed north to

Duala Duala or Douala can refer to: Relating to Cameroon * Duala people, an ethnic group in Cameroon * Duala language, part of the Bantu languages * Douala, the largest city in Cameroon, founded by the Duala people * Rudolf Duala Manga Bell (1873–1914 ...

in the German colony of

Kamerun Kamerun was an African colony of the German Empire from 1884 to 1916 in the region of today's Republic of Cameroon. Kamerun also included northern parts of Gabon and the Congo with western parts of the Central African Republic, southwestern ...

in January 1905, where she received orders to return home. She arrived in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelms ...

on 14 March, and the East American Cruiser Division was disbanded the following day.

Later career

was then assigned to the Torpedo Inspectorate on 30 March and was moved to Kiel, where she entered the there for conversion into a torpedo test ship. While the work was being carried out, the ship's crew was reduced. On 3 January 1906, she returned to service with the Torpedo Testing Command, along with the light cruiser . The latter was initially the flagship of the unit, but replaced her in that role on 3 March. In June, (''KK''—Corvette Captain)

Eberhard von Mantey Eberhard is an old Germanic name meaning the strength or courage of a wild boar. People First name * Eberhard of Friuli (815–866), Duke and key figure in the Carolingian Empire *Eberhard of Béthune (died 1212), Flemish grammarian * Eberhard I, ...

took command of the ship, though he served in the position for just a month before being replaced by ''KzS'' Schäfer. He was in turn relieved by (''FK''—Frigate Captain)

Friedrich Schultz Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

in October. In 1907, the ship was used to test

wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimental technologies for ...

equipment from 21 March to 5 April. After completing the tests, she joined the ships of the Training and Testing Unit for a cruise to visit

Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the ...

, Spain, that lasted from 15 April to 4 May. trained with the main fleet during its annual maneuvers, held from 25 August to 7 September; she served with the fleet's reconnaissance screen for the exercises. cruised with the Training and Testing Unit from 30 March to 25 April 1908. She then went into dry-dock for periodic maintenance from 6 July to 5 September, by which time the new

armored cruiser The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast en ...

had replaced her in the Torpedo Testing Command. was accordingly decommissioned in Danzig. The naval command then made the decision to convert into a training ship for naval cadets and apprentice seamen. She went to dry dock at the in Danzig for an extensive refit. The ship was re-boilered with Marine-type

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gene ...

s. originally had three funnels, and during the modernization they were reduced to two. The refit was finished by early 1911, and was recommissioned for the third time on 29 March, under the command of ''KzS'' Karl Sievers. She embarked a contingent of naval cadets for a cruise to Norway that lasted from 7 June to 25 July, followed by a longer cruise back to the West Indies that began on 4 August and concluded with her return to Germany on 9 March 1912. After exchanging her cadets for another cohort for the 1912–1913 training year, she made a short cruise in July to visit Stockholm, Sweden, and Libau, Russia. That year's long-distance cruise went to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

that year, and began on 6 August 1912. The ship cruised in the western Mediterranean later that year, along with her sister . The old cruiser was also in the region. As the Bulgarian army was poised to march on

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

during the

, the Great Powers deployed a naval force to ensure the safety of foreign nationals in the Ottoman Empire. and the

battlecruiser The battlecruiser (also written as battle cruiser or battle-cruiser) was a type of capital ship of the first half of the 20th century. These were similar in displacement, armament and cost to battleships, but differed in form and balance of at ...

were sent to Constantinople as part of this force, arriving there on 15 November and joining her on 9 December. At that time, the Germans created the Mediterranean Division, which included both ships. The international fleet sent ashore a force of around 3,000 officers and men. The force was withdrawn to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cypru ...

after a ceasefire seemed imminent, but by February 1913 fighting again broke out, and the island was seized by Greece. In the meantime, had gone to Alexandria, Egypt, on 2 January, where she began the voyage back to Germany, arriving in Kiel on 5 March. ''FK'' Wilhelm Adelung relieved Sievers; he served as the ship's final captain. She took another group of cadets on a voyage in the Baltic Sea shortly thereafter. On 11 August, began her last overseas cruise, again to South American and West Indian waters. Another period of domestic unrest had broken out in Haiti in January 1914, leading to steam to Port-au-Prince to protect German nationals in the city. There, she met the US dreadnought battleship and the armored cruiser . All three ships sent landing parties ashore to protect their respective nationals. At that time, the Haitian president, Michel Oreste abdicated, and he and his family came aboard to be carried into exile. She later transferred Oreste and his family to the steamer , which took them to Colombia, where they went into exile. returned to Kiel on 16 March. She went on a tour of Swedish ports, including Stockholm, Visby, and Gothenburg, along with Glücksburg, Germany, over the summer of 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I. had a short career during World War I. At the outbreak of hostilities, she was in the in Wilhelmshaven, undergoing periodic maintenance. She was briefly mobilized into V Scouting Group, and from 27 August, was stationed in the western Baltic on patrol duty. She participated in a sweep eastward as far as Bornholm, but encountered no enemy vessels. Another sortie followed on 20 October, which advanced as far as Lyserort, Russia, but again, met no resistance from the Russian Baltic Fleet. By November 1914, the naval command decided to withdraw the ships from service, owing to their weak armor protection. Initially left unused in Kiel, she was reduced to a

for U-boat crews. She served in that capacity through the end of the war in November 1918. She was stricken from the naval register on 6 December 1919 and sold to ship breakers in Harburg, Hamburg, Harburg. She was scrapped the following year.

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