 Following her commissioning , Kaiser Barbarossa was assigned to the I Squadron of the Heimatflotte ( Home Fleet ) , which shortly thereafter went on a cruise to Spain . While moored in Cadiz , the ships met the four Brandenburg @-@ class ships , which were returning from their expedition to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China . From 22 August to 21 September , Kaiser Barbarossa participated in the annual autumn maneuvers of the entire fleet . While in the Danzig Bay , the fleet conducted a naval review for the visiting Tsar Nicholas II of Russia . The winter cruise in December went to southern Norway . In April and May 1902 , the squadron went on a training cruise to Britain , followed by a tour of the Kiel Week sailing regatta in late June . The ships then took part in another training cruise to Norway in July and then the autumn maneuvers , which began in the Baltic and concluded in the North Sea with a fleet review in the Jade . During the exercise , which lasted from 17 August to 18 September , Kaiser Barbarossa and the rest of I Squadron were assigned to play the roles of both the German fleet and hostile forces . The usual winter cruise went to Bergen , Norway , that year . 
