SMS Elbing was a light cruiser ordered by the Imperial Russian navy under the name Admiral Nevelskoy from the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in 1913.

She was heavily engaged in the confused fighting on the night of 31 May – 1 June, and shortly after midnight she was accidentally rammed by the battleship Posen, which tore a hole in the ship's hull.

In 1912, the Imperial Russian Navy held a design competition for a new class of cruisers intended for service in their colonial empire, which were to replace the ageing Askold and Zhemchug in East Asian waters.

The Russian fleet was in dire need of new cruisers, and only Schichau promised to meet an early delivery deadline, so they received the contracts for two ships in December 1912.

These were to have been named Maraviev Amurskyy and Admiral Nevelskoy; the outbreak of World War I in July 1914 led to their seizure by the German government, and they became Pillau and Elbing, respectively.

The propulsion system was rated to produce 30,000 shaft horsepower (22,000 kW) for a top speed of 27.5 knots (50.9 km/h; 31.6 mph) Elbing carried 620 t (610 long tons) of coal, and an additional 580 t (570 long tons) of oil that gave her a range of approximately 4,300 nautical miles (8,000 km; 4,900 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).

Elbing was accidentally rammed by a torpedo boat on 4 November, while still completing her initial training, and her stern was damaged in the incident.

New Russian warships expected to enter service in the near future required a modern, powerful light cruiser to combat them.

On 5 December, she went to sea in company with the cruiser Augsburg, several torpedo boats, and the minelayer Rügen to lay a minefield off Lyserort to block the Irbe Strait, the eastern exit from the Gulf of Riga.

The Admiralstab (Admiralty Staff) initially rejected his request, citing the recent sinkings of the cruisers Lübeck and München on 13 January and 1 February, respectively, which had reduced the strength of the scouting forces in the Baltic.

While the issue was still being debated, Elbing temporarily served as the flagship of VI Scouting Group under Kommodore (Commodore) Hugo Langemak from 2 to 29 February.

[8] On 28 March, Elbing was assigned to II Scouting Group, which typically conducted local, defensive patrols in the German Bight.

The ships sailed out to the Amrun Bank to provide distant cover to several flotillas of torpedo boats that were sent to raid British coastal waters.

Elbing next went to sea on 21 April for a sweep in company with I and II Scouting Groups and their escorting torpedo boats to the west of Amrun Bank.

KAdm Friedrich Boedicker, the German commander, initially ordered his battlecruisers to continue with the bombardment, while Elbing and the other five light cruisers concentrated to engage the Harwich Force.

A light cruiser and destroyer were damaged before Boedicker broke off the engagement after receiving reports of submarines in the area.

Two British cruisers, HMS Galatea and Phaeton, were simultaneously steaming to inspect the steamer, and upon spotting the German torpedo boats, opened fire shortly before 15:30.

[10][11] At around 18:30, Elbing and the rest of II Scouting Group encountered the cruiser HMS Chester; they opened fire and scored several hits on the ship.

[13] II Scouting Group, along with the battlecruisers Seydlitz and Moltke had been ordered to take station ahead of the German line for its night cruising formation.

Elbing was still having problems with her boiler condensers, and was unable to keep up the speed necessary to reach the front of the line, and so she fell in with IV Scouting Group.

[18] They then lowered the ship's cutter into the water and set off; while steaming back to port, they rescued the surgeon from the destroyer HMS Tipperary.