"Leipzig" embarked on her next deployment abroad on 14 June to replace the corvette . The new squadron commander, "KAdm" Karl August Deinhard, was travelling independently by passenger ship. "Leipzig" stopped in Aden on 16 July, where she formally relieved "Bismarck" as the squadron flagship, and proceeded to Zanzibar, where she arrived on 2 August. There, she joined the corvette ; the latter vessel's commander, "KzS" Franz Strauch was serving as the squadron's interim commander while Deinhard was still en route, and so he transferred to "Leipzig" and Hartog took his place aboard "Olga". Deinhard arrived on 31 August and took command of the squadron in Manda Bay, Kenya. At the time, the squadron consisted of "Leipzig", "Olga", "Möwe", and from 31 December the unprotected cruiser and from 5 January 1889 the aviso . The squadron, which was intended to operate in the South Pacific, had instead to remain off German East Africa due to the Abushiri revolt, a major rebellion against German rule; this was indeed the reason "Schwalbe" and "Pfeil" were sent to reinforce the squadron. The operations conducted off German East Africa were the largest and longest sustained action of the German fleet before World War I.