Dresden spent most of her career on foreign stations.
After her commissioning, she visited the United States in 1909 as part of Germany's delegation to the Hudson–Fulton Celebration.
She returned to North American waters in late 1913, when she was stationed off the Mexican coast to protect German nationals during the Mexican Revolution.
Following the rebels' victory the following year, Dresden evacuated the former dictator Victoriano Huerta to Jamaica, where the British had granted him asylum.
In need of repairs, the cruiser was scheduled to return to Germany in July 1914, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this from taking place.
Instead, Dresden operated as a commerce raider in South American waters in the Atlantic in the first months of the war before moving to the Pacific Ocean in September and thereafter joining Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron.

Dresden participated in two major battles with the East Asia Squadron.
The first, the Battle of Coronel, took place in November, and Dresden engaged the British cruiser HMS Glasgow.
The second, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, followed in December, where British battlecruisers annihilated the German squadron; Dresden was the only vessel to escape.
She eluded her British pursuers for several more months, until she put into Más a Tierra in March 1915.
Her engines were worn out and she had almost no coal left for her boilers; the ship's captain contacted the local Chilean authorities to have his vessel interned for the duration of the conflict.
There, she was trapped by British cruisers, including her old opponent Glasgow; the British violated Chilean neutrality and opened fire on the ship.
The Germans scuttled Dresden and the majority of the crew escaped to be interned in Chile for the duration of the war.
The wreck remains in the harbor and was first surveyed in 2002.
Dresden spent most of her career on foreign stations. After her commissioning, she visited the United States in 1909 as part of Germany's delegation to the Hudson–Fulton Celebration. She returned to North American waters in late 1913, when she was stationed off the Mexican coast to protect German nationals during the Mexican Revolution. Following the rebels' victory the following year, Dresden evacuated the former dictator Victoriano Huerta to Jamaica, where the British had granted him asylum. In need of repairs, the cruiser was scheduled to return to Germany in July 1914, but the outbreak of World War I prevented this from taking place. Instead, Dresden operated as a commerce raider in South American waters in the Atlantic in the first months of the war before moving to the Pacific Ocean in September and thereafter joining Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron.
Dresden participated in two major battles with the East Asia Squadron. The first, the Battle of Coronel, took place in November, and Dresden engaged the British cruiser HMS Glasgow. The second, the Battle of the Falkland Islands, followed in December, where British battlecruisers annihilated the German squadron; Dresden was the only vessel to escape. She eluded her British pursuers for several more months, until she put into Más a Tierra in March 1915. Her engines were worn out and she had almost no coal left for her boilers; the ship's captain contacted the local Chilean authorities to have his vessel interned for the duration of the conflict. There, she was trapped by British cruisers, including her old opponent Glasgow; the British violated Chilean neutrality and opened fire on the ship. The Germans scuttled Dresden and the majority of the crew escaped to be interned in Chile for the duration of the war. The wreck remains in the harbor and was first surveyed in 2002.
Dresden-class cruiser