SMS Gneisenau
"Gneisenau" was laid down at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremen, Germany in 1904, under construction number 144. She was launched on 14 June 1906, and commissioned into the fleet nearly two years later on 6 March 1908. The ship cost the German government 19,243,000 goldmarks. The ship had been designed for service with the High Seas Fleet, though it was found to be too weak for service with the battle fleet; instead it was deployed overseas, a role in which it performed well.
SMS Gneisenau (1879)
"Gneisenau" was recommissioned for another tour abroad on 5 October 1884 to join the newly-formed West African Cruiser Squadron, which was commanded by "Konteradmiral" (Rear Admiral) Eduard von Knorr aboard his flagship . The ship's new commander was "KzS" Victor Valois. While en route from Kiel to Wilhelmshaven to join the rest of the squadron, "Gneisenau" ran aground off the island of Lolland in heavy fog; she had to be towed free by the ironclad , though she was undamaged in the accident. The squadron left Wilhelmshaven on 30 October, bound for West Africa. While in the Cape Verde islands, Knorr detached "Gneisenau" to Cape Town, where she arrived on 8 January 1885. There, she embarked Friedrich Gerhard Rohlfs, who had been appointed consul to Zanzibar, and took him to the island on 28 January. "Gneisenau" then went to the port of Lamu to survey the coast of eastern Africa, particularly the area around Wituland. "Gneisenau"s survey of the area led the German government to instruct Rohlfs to accept the offer of the Witu Sultan, Ahmed ibn Fumo Bakari, to form a protectorate on 27 May.