 On 31 August 1902 , the annual summer maneuvers were begun by the fleet . Kaiser Friedrich III was assigned to the " hostile " force , and was first tasked with preventing the " German " squadron from passing through the Great Belt in the Baltic . Kaiser Friedrich III and several other battleships were then tasked with forcing an entry into the mouth of the Elbe River , where the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and Hamburg could be seized . The " hostile " flotilla accomplished these tasks within three days . 
