In 1905, at the age of 18, Canaris joined the Imperial Navy and, by the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, was serving as an intelligence officer on board the SMS "Dresden", a light cruiser to which he had been assigned in December 1911. This was the only warship that managed to evade the Royal Navy for a prolonged period during the Battle of the Falkland Islands of December 1914, largely because of Canaris's skilful evasion tactics.