transferred to the North Sea, based in Wilhelmshaven; heavy ice forced her to winter in Friedrichstadt. In February 1871, she and Blitz steamed to Tönning; there, they towed several cannon-armed shallops back to Wilhelmshaven. With the war all but over, Drache was decommissioned in Wilhelmshaven on 6 April. On 6 May 1872, Drache was recommissioned for service as a survey vessel, having had her 21 cm gun removed and a deck house erected in its place. From May until 22 October, she surveyed the eastern coast of Holstein, operating from her base in Kiel. In November, Drache, Meteor, and the transport ship Rhein searched the eastern Baltic for any merchant ships that might have been damaged in a heavy storm. On 12 December, Drache returned to Wilhelmshaven, where she was again decommissioned. On 15 April 1874, the vessel was recommissioned for visits to British and Norwegian ports before being decommissioned again on 23 November in Wilhelmshaven. It was planned to send her to Spain in response to attacks on German nationals there, but the plan came to nothing. From 1875 to 1880, Drache made visits to Britain and Norway in the summer months. During this period, she underwent several additional modifications. In 1876, her masts were removed to improve her stability, and her remaining two guns were removed in 1878. Over the winter of 1879–1880, new boilers were installed, along with a barquentine sailing rig. Starting in 1881, Drache return to surveying duties in the North Sea; this work took her as far north as the 60th parallel in 1882. The year 1883 saw similar service, along with fishery protection operations in the North Sea; this had become increasingly important due to the rising number of foreign boats illegally fishing in German waters. On 15 October 1883, Drache was once again decommissioned for the winter. She returned to service for more survey work in mid-1884 in the Skagerrak and the coast of Norway. She continued surveying areas of the North Sea through the first half of 1887, before being decommissioned the last time on 30 September. The oceanographic data Drache had gathered over the previous fifteen proved to be indispensable to German U-boat crews and mining operations during World War I. On 13 December, Drache was stricken from the naval register and hulked in Wilhelmshaven. She was towed through the Eider Canal in 1888 and was sunk by the torpedo