 Kaiser joined the 1877 summer squadron , composed of Deutschland , Friedrich Carl , and the new turret ironclad Preussen . The squadron was again sent to the Mediterranean , in response to unrest in the Ottoman Empire related to the Russo @-@ Turkish War ; the violence threatened German citizens living there . The squadron , again under the command of 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 . The newly commissioned Friedrich der Grosse and Grosser Kurfürst , sister ships of Preussen , replaced Kaiser and Deutschland in the 1878 maneuvers , during which Grosser Kurfürst was accidentally rammed and sank with great loss of life . 
