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It was the sister ship of the famous commerce raider SMS Emden. While the Emden still had traditional triple-expansion engines, the Dresden was the first German cruiser to be equipped with the new Parsons turbines.

At the outbreak of war in 1914, the Dresden had been stationed in the Caribbean for a year, and was preparing for the return journey to Germany. However, orders were changed to prepare for commerce raiding. The Dresden then headed for the South Atlantic and went around Cape Horn, sinking British merchantmen along the way. In December, she made rendezvous with the German East-Asiatic Squadron at Easter Island. In company with Vice-Admiral von Spee 's other ships - which were SMS Scharnhorst, SMS Gneisenau, SMS Leipzig, and SMS Nürnberg - the Dresden participated in the victorious Battle of Coronel. Together with SMS Leipzig she damaged and forced the escape of the British cruiser HMS GlasgowEight ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Glasgow after the city in Scotland. The first Glasgow was a 20 gun 6th rate Scottish ship of the line, transferred to the Royal Navy in 1707, and sold in 1719. The second Glasgow was 24 gun 6th rate launch.

Approximately one month later, SMS Dresden was the only German cruiser to escape at the disastrous Battle of the Falkland IslandsThe Battle of the Falkland Islands was a naval engagement of the First World War, fought between units of the Royal Navy and the Kaiserliche Marine navies on 8 December 1914. The British, reeling from the defeat at the Battle of Coronel sent a large force, her turbine engines proving faster than her expansion-engined squadron mates. The ship then headed south back around Cape Horn to the maze of channels and bays in southern ChileThe word chile may also refer to Chilli pepper. The Republic of Chile is a republic located on the southwestern coast of South America. It is a long and narrow piece of land between the Andes mountains and the Pacific Ocean. It shares borders with Argenti. Until March 1915 the ship evaded Royal Navy searches while paralyzing British trade routes in the area.

On March 8th, the Dresden put into the Cumberland Bight on the Chilean island of Mas-a-Tierra . Due to lack of supplies and parts for the worn-out engines, the ship ceased to be operational. Six days later, British warships found the elusive German cruiser. After a few shots were fired, the Dresden ran up a white flag and sent the-then Lieutenant Wilhelm CanarisThis article is about the 20th-century German military officer. For the 19th-century Greek naval officer, see Constantine Kanaris. Wilhelm Franz Canaris ( January 1, 1887 — April 9, 1945) was head of the German military intelligence service, the Abwehr, f, who would become a famous Kriegsmarine admiral during the Second World War, to negotiate with the British. However, this was just a ruse to buy time so the Dresdens crew could abandon ship and scuttle her. At 11:15 AM the SMS Dresden slipped under the waves with her war ensign proudly flying.