 After her commissioning in July 1876 , Preussen served with the fleet . She joined a squadron sent to the Mediterranean Sea in 1877 in response to unrest in the Ottoman Empire related to the Russo @-@ Turkish War ; the violence threatened German citizens living there . The squadron , under the command of Rear Admiral Carl Ferdinand Batsch , steamed to the ports of Haifa and Jaffa in July 1877 , but found no significant tensions ashore . Batsch then departed and cruised the Mediterranean for the remainder of the summer , returning to Germany in October . 
