sentences:  The fleet was on its summer cruise to Norway during the crisis, and word of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia forced the ships to return home early to prepare for the coming conflict.At the start of World War I, "Braunschweig" and "Essen" were reactivated and assigned to IV Battle Squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Ehrhard Schmidt, tasked with coastal defense duties.The squadron conducted several sorties into the Baltic Sea to patrol for Russian warships but it saw no action.