"Danzig" spent the first ten years of her career in the reconnaissance forces of the High Seas Fleet. The ship saw extensive service during the First World War; she was present at the Battle of Heligoland Bight in August 1914, but did not engage British warships. She also saw action in the Baltic Sea against Russian forces, and was badly damaged by a Russian mine in November 1915. "Danzig" was also involved in Operation Albion, the seizure of the islands at the entrance of the Gulf of Riga, in September 1917. She was thereafter withdrawn from service, and surrendered to Britain after the end of the war as a war prize. "Danzig" was dismantled for scrap starting in 1921.