Battle of Coronel
Built for overseas service, "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were assigned to the East Asia Squadron in 1909 and 1910, respectively. Both ships had brief 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.