 Cöln was assigned to patrols off the island of Heligoland at the outbreak of World War I in early August 1914 , as the flagship of Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass . At the Battle of Heligoland Bight on 28 August 1914 , the German patrol forces were attacked by superior British forces , including five battlecruisers and several light cruisers . Cöln was initially stationed in support of the forces on the patrol line . She attempted to reinforce the beleaguered German forces , and encountered Vice Admiral David Beatty 's battlecruisers . She was hit several times by the battlecruisers ' large @-@ caliber guns , but managed to escape in the haze . She inadvertently turned back toward them , however , and was quickly disabled when the battle resumed . The crew abandoned Cöln , but German vessels did not search the area for three days , and only one man survived . 
