SMS Gneisenau (1879)
The crew attempted to drop the starboard anchor, but it did not catch in the stony ground. "Gneisenau" was driven into the mole repeatedly, striking it with her stern twice before being turned and pushed bow-first on the starboard side, forcing her aground. A merchant ship attempted to come to the crew's aid, but they were unable to connect a line between the two ships before "Gneisenau" began to list 35 degrees. A boat from shore also attempted to rescue the crew, but it too was forced ashore in the heavy seas. Wave action quickly smashed "Gneisenau"s hull against the mole, and part of her crew attempted to find safety by climbing the rigging. The ship rolled over onto her side, and the surviving crewmen reached shore with a line. Forty-one men were killed in the accident, including Kretschmann and the ship's first officer. "Charlotte" and the British ironclad were sent to aid the wounded. Those killed in the sinking were buried in Málaga's cemetery, and the survivors returned to Germany aboard the HAPAG steamship on 2 January 1901.
SMS Stein
After "Gneisenau" was wrecked in bad weather off Málaga on 16 December 1900, "Stein" was reactivated to take her place. She embarked on her first training cruise of this commissioning on 28 January 1901, bound for Lisbon, Portugal and Gibraltar. She returned to Kiel on 1 April and, over the course of 30 May to 1 August, she took part in training exercises, made a visit to Riga to participate in celebrations marking the 700th anniversary of the city's founding, and toured ports in the North Sea. She then began a cruise to the West Indies; while stopped in San Sebastián, she was visited by the Spanish king, Alfonso XIII. "Stein" reached Port of Spain on 18 October and joined the East American Cruiser Division, though she returned to Germany on 6 January 1902. She moved to Kiel on 17 March to begin preparing for the year's training routine, which began in mid-May with exercises in the Baltic and North Seas.