The ships of the "Bremen" class served in a variety of roles, from overseas cruiser to fleet scout to training ship. "Bremen" and "Leipzig" were deployed to the American and Asian stations, respectively, while the other five ships remained in German waters with the High Seas Fleet. At the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, "Leipzig" was in the Pacific Ocean in the East Asia Squadron; she saw action at the Battle of Coronel in November and was sunk a month later at the Battle of the Falkland Islands. "Bremen" was sunk by a Russian mine in December 1915, but the other five ships of the class survived the war.