"Alexandrine" was first activated in 1889 for a deployment to the Central Pacific, where competing claims to the islands of Samoa created tension between several colonial powers. The ship patrolled Deutsch-Neuguinea, Germany's colonial holdings in the Central Pacific, until 1891, when she joined the German Cruiser Squadron, which was sent to Chile to protect German nationals during the Chilean Civil War of 1891. The squadron thereafter cruised off East Asia in 1892, and by the end of the year, went to German East Africa. In 1893, she was sent to Brazil where the "Revolta da Armada" (Revolt of the Fleet) in that country threatened German interests. The ships were then sent back to East Asia to monitor the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895.