 At the beginning of the First World War , Black Prince was one of the four armoured cruisers serving in the 1st Cruiser Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet , commanded by Rear @-@ Admiral Ernest Charles Thomas <unk> . She participated in the pursuit of Goeben and Breslau . Following the escape of the two German ships to neutral Turkey , Black Prince and Duke of Edinburgh were sent into the Red Sea to search for German merchant ships , with Black Prince capturing the German ocean liners <unk> and <unk> . On 6 November , she was ordered to Gibraltar to join a squadron of French and British ships to search for German warships still at sea off the African coast . This was cancelled on 19 November after the location of the German East Asia Squadron was revealed by survivors of the Battle of Coronel . Black Prince joined the Grand Fleet in December 1914 and was assigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron under Rear @-@ Admiral Sir Robert Keith <unk> . 
