 On the morning of 27 October, days before the operation was scheduled to begin, around 45 crew members from "Strassburg"s engine room slipped over the side of the ship and went into Wilhelmshaven.The crewmen had to be rounded up and returned to the ship, after which the IV Scouting Group moved to Cuxhaven.Here, men from all six cruisers in the unit refused to work in protest of the war, and in support of the armistice proposed by Prince Maximilian.