 As tensions in Europe rose in the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria , Looff decided to abandon the normal peacetime training schedule and returned to Dar es Salaam on 24 July to replenish his coal and other stores . He also made efforts to organize a coast watcher network to report enemy ships and to protect German shipping in the area . On 27 July , Looff received a message from the Admiralstab ( Admiralty Staff ) informing him of the worsening political situation in Europe . Concurrently , the cruisers of the British Cape Squadron , HMS Astraea , Hyacinth , and Pegasus , arrived with the intention of bottling up Königsberg at the colony 's capital Dar es Salaam . Looff got his ship ready to sail and left port on the afternoon of 31 July 1914 , with the three slower British ships shadowing him . Looff used a rain squall and his ship 's superior speed to break contact with his British pursuers the following day . Königsberg steamed off Aden until 5 August , when word of the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany belatedly reached the ship . 
