October. The newly commissioned and , sister ships of Preussen, replaced Deutschland and Kaiser in the 1878 maneuvers, during which Grosser Kurfürst was accidentally rammed and sank with great loss of life. Deutschland and her sister Kaiser remained in reserve for the next six years. They were reactivated in the spring of 1883 for the summer maneuvers under the command of Wilhelm von Wickede. Due to their long period out of service, their engines proved troublesome during the training cruise. Indeed, the maneuvers were temporarily put on hold when the steam plants in Deutschland, Kaiser, and Kronprinz broke down. Regardless, the 1883 cruise was the first year the German navy completely abandoned the use of sails on its large ironclads. Deutschland went into reserve during the 1884 maneuvers, which were conducted by a homogenous squadron composed of the four s. The ship did not see active duty again until the summer of 1889, when Deutschland joined the fleet that steamed to Great Britain to celebrate the coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm II; the ship joined her sister Kaiser and the turret ships Preussen and Friedrich der Grosse in II Division. The fleet then held training maneuvers in the North Sea under command of Rear Admiral Friedrich Hollmann. Deutschland and the rest of II Division became the training squadron for the fleet in 1889–1890, the first year the Kaiserliche Marine maintained a year-round ironclad force. The squadron escorted Wilhelm II's imperial yacht to the Mediterranean; the voyage included state visits to Italy and the Ottoman Empire. The squadron remained in the Mediterranean until April 1890, when it returned to Germany. Deutschland participated in the ceremonial transfer of the island of Helgoland from British to German control in the summer of 1890. She was present during the fleet maneuvers in September, where the entire eight-ship armored squadron simulated a Russian fleet blockading Kiel. II Division, including Deutschland, served as the training squadron in the winter of 1890–1891. The squadron again cruised the Mediterranean, under the command of Rear Admiral Wilhelm Schröder. During the winter of 1892–1893, Deutschland participated in a training squadron alongside the old ironclad and the new coastal defense ships and . The squadron carried over for the fleet maneuvers during the summer of 1893, when they were joined by the four Sachsen-class vessels. In November 1893, the Deutschland, König Wilhelm, and Friedrich der Grosse were joined by the brand-new pre-dreadnought