"Frankfurt" was ordered under the contract name ""Ersatz" " and was laid down at the "Kaiserliche Werft" shipyard in Kiel in 1913 and launched on 20 March 1915, after which fitting-out work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet on 20 August 1915, after being rushed through sea trials. The first operation in which "Frankfurt" saw action was the Bombardment of Yarmouth and Lowestoft on 24 April 1916. "Frankfurt" was assigned to the reconnaissance screen for the battlecruisers of I Scouting Group, temporarily under the command of "Konteradmiral" Friedrich Boedicker's. During the raid, "Frankfurt" attacked and sank a British armed patrol boat off the English coast. Due to reports of British submarines and torpedo attacks, Boedicker broke off the chase, and turned back east towards the High Seas Fleet. At this point, the German fleet commander, Vice Admiral Reinhard Scheer, who had been warned of the Grand Fleet's sortie from Scapa Flow, turned back towards Germany.