Built for overseas service, "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were assigned to the East Asia Squadron in 1909 and 1910, respectively. "Scharnhorst" relieved the old armored cruiser as the squadron flagship, which had been on station since 1900. Both ships had short careers; shortly before the outbreak of World War I, the ships departed the German colony at Tsingtao. On 1 November 1914, the ships destroyed a British force at the Battle of Coronel and inflicted upon the Royal Navy its first defeat since the Battle of Plattsburgh in 1814. The East Asia Squadron, including both "Scharnhorst"-class ships, was subsequently annihilated at the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December.