 On 22 April , Sperber was finally released to resume her original assignment to the South Seas Station . She met Alexandrine in Australia and visited the ports of Melbourne and Sydney , where she underwent an overhaul . Sperber finally arrived in Apia in German Samoa on 30 July . She thereafter took Friedrich Biermann , the Imperial Commissioner for the Marshall Islands , on a tour of the islands . The cruiser returned to Apia on 5 October . In January 1891 , Sperber 's commander presided over the unveiling of a monument to the German sailors who had been killed at the Battle of Vailele in December 1888 . The cruiser then departed for Sydney for another overhaul , which lasted from 24 January to 21 March . After the repair work was completed , Sperber went on a tour of Germany 's colonies in the Pacific , including the Bismarck Archipelago , the Marshalls , and Butaritari . She was back in Apia by 6 June , where she remained stationed until 15 December . The new unprotected cruiser Bussard joined her there on 13 December . 
