[3] In January 2008, her wreck was identified by the Argentine Navy in 70 metres (230 ft) of water, 62 miles (100 km) off Necochea.

She was launched on 20 December 1920 at the Hamburg shipyard of Blohm + Voss and entered service with the Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie on 8 July 1921.

In late September she went to South America and on 11 October reached Bahía Blanca in Argentina, where she stayed until 4 December[6][7] Her captain Karl Schulte fell ill there and was replaced by Hugo Wilmsen from the Nienburg.

Captain Wilmsen decided to scuttle her nevertheless and the Ajax fired three rounds at her, the first across the bows, the second whilst she was lowering her lifeboats and the third when the boats were dropped into the water, 62 miles from the coast.

The cruiser HMS Cumberland took them first to the Falkland Islands, then in 1940 to Camp Baviaanspoort near Pretoria in South Africa,[9] from which they were released at the end of the war.