She saw extensive service in the first three years of the war, during which time she participated in the seizure of Libau and was attacked by Allied submarines on two occasions.

The first tranche of vessels to fulfill this requirement, the Gazelle class, were designed to serve both as fleet scouts and as station ships in Germany's colonial empire.

The principle improvements consisted of a larger hull that allowed for an additional pair of boilers and a higher top speed.

Work had been scheduled to be completed by 1 August 1904, but Krupp, the manufacturer of several of the turbine components, had significant problems casting the necessary parts.

[9][10] Her initial testing was interrupted on 30 October when unrest during the 1905 Russian Revolution prompted the German Kaiser Wilhelm II to send the ship with seven torpedo boats to Russia.

Lübeck patrolled in the Gulf of Finland for two weeks, by which time the crisis in Russia had been contained and she was able to return to her trials, which continued for nearly a year.

In March 1906, Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Hermann Nordmann replaced Meurer, though he only served until April, when he was relieved by KK Otto Philipp.

In early 1907, she participated in fleet maneuvers in the North Sea, followed by a cruise to Skagen, Denmark, and then with mock attacks on the main naval base at Kiel.

This year, the maneuvers were delayed to allow for a large fleet review, including 112 warships, for Wilhelm II in the Schillig roadstead.

Prince Heinrich had pressed for such a cruise the previous year, arguing that it would prepare the fleet for overseas operations and would break up the monotony of training in German waters, though tensions with Britain over the developing Anglo-German naval arms race were high.

The fleet departed Kiel on 17 July, passed through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to the North Sea, and continued to the Atlantic.

Later that year, the fleet toured coastal German cities as part of an effort to increase public support for naval expenditures.

[6][13] Lübeck was ordered to deploy to the Mediterranean Sea on 19 April 1909 to reinforce the old gunboat Loreley, which was the German station ship in Constantinople, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

The year's autumn maneuvers were confined to the Baltic and the Kattegat, and another fleet review was held during the exercises for a visiting Austro-Hungarian delegation that included Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Admiral Rudolf Montecuccoli.

She was assigned to the naval forces in the Baltic Sea, first with the Coastal Defense Division tasked with patrolling the Danish straits.

Lübeck and several other cruisers and torpedo boats bombarded the city on 6 May and patrolled to ensure no Russian naval forces attempted to intervene.

[16][17] Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Albert Hopman, the commander of the reconnaissance forces in the Baltic, conducted a major assault on Libau the next day in conjunction with an attempt by the German Army to seize the city.

[18] A week later, on 14 May, Lübeck was to lay a minefield off the Gulf of Finland with Augsburg, but Russian submarines in the area convinced the Germans to cancel the operation.

On 1 July, the minelayer SMS Albatross, escorted by the cruisers Lübeck, Roon, and Augsburg and seven destroyers, laid a minefield north of Bogskär.

While returning to port, the flotilla separated into two sections; Augsburg, Albatross, and three destroyers made for Rixhöft while the remainder of the unit went to Libau.

Augsburg and Albatross were intercepted by a powerful Russian squadron commanded by Rear Admiral Mikhail Bakhirev, consisting of three armored and two light cruisers, resulting in the Battle of Åland Islands.

Karpf, the flotilla commander, ordered the slower Albatross to steam for neutral Swedish waters and recalled Roon and Lübeck.

Albatross was grounded off Gotland and Augsburg escaped, and the Russian squadron briefly engaged Lübeck and Roon before both sides broke contact.

[21][22] The Allies finally had success against the ship on 13 January, when a Russian mine damaged Lübeck; her stern was lifted out of the water and her foremast was knocked down, falling on the bridge.

By this time, the light cruiser Stuttgart had been converted into a seaplane carrier, and the crew from Lübeck was needed to bring the vessel into service, so the latter was decommissioned on 8 March.