The year 1888 followed the same routine of training exercises in previous years, though now she operated with III Flotilla. In July, she accompanied the fleet that the newly-crowned Kaiser Wilhelm II on a state visit to Tsar Alexander III of Russia from 14 to 31 July. The voyage also included stops in Sweden and Denmark. During the August–September fleet maneuvers, she led the fourteen torpedo boats of III Flotilla as part of a squadron defending Wilhelmshaven from a simulated hostile squadron; she led the torpedo boats in a mock attack on the fleet. "Blitz" was decommissioned in late September; the outbreak of the Abushiri revolt in German East Africa prompted the navy to consider sending "Blitz" to join the East Africa Squadron, but the proposal was abandoned. She remained in German waters in 1889, conducting training maneuvers with the torpedo boats in July and escorting Wilhelm II on a voyage to Britain in mid-September. She was present for a torpedo demonstration that involved the sinking of the old gunboat .