SMS Kaiserin Elisabeth was a Kaiser Franz Joseph I-class protected cruiser of the Austro-Hungarian Navy.

Named in honor of the Empress Elisabeth, consort of Emperor Franz Josef, the cruiser was designed for overseas service and in fact was stationed in China at the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Although Kaiserin Elisabeth burned enormous quantities of coal, in 1914 she could still steam at a very fair speed and was stationed in China.

At Qingdao with Kaiserin Elisabeth were the Imperial German Navy light cruiser Cormoran, gunboats Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger and Luchs and the torpedo boat S90.

On 6 September 1914 the first air-sea battle in history took place when a Japanese Farman MF.11 aircraft launched by the seaplane carrier Wakamiya unsuccessfully attacked Kaiserin Elisabeth with bombs.