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.
Bismarck-class corvette
In 1887, "Gneisenau" began her service as a training ship, a role she held for more than a decade. During this period, she was generally occupied with training cruises and individual, squadron, and fleet training. Long-distance cruises frequently alternated between the West Indies and the Mediterranean Sea. During fleet maneuvers in 1895, "Gneisenau" accidentally collided with a Danish schooner, sinking the schooner and killing most of her crew. While on a training cruise, she stopped outside Málaga to conduct gunnery training on 16 December 1900. A strong storm surprised the crew, who, through a communication problem between the commander and engine room crew, raised anchor and tried to get the vessel underway. They were unable to get sufficient steam up in the boilers before she was driven into the mole by heavy winds and destroyed. Most of her crew survived, but 41 officers and men were killed in the sinking, including her commanding officer. Her wreck proved impossible to salvage, and so she was sold for scrap shortly after the accident.