SMS Gneisenau II was an armored cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine launched on 14 June 1906 and commissioned on 6 March 1908.

In late 1910, SMS Gneisenau II was assigned to the Ostasiatische Station in Kiautschou, and made frequent voyages through Germany’s Pacific colonies. She would remain assigned to this station until the outbreak of World War I.

At the outbreak of the war, SMS Gneisenau II was on a cruise through Germany’s Pacific colonies.  On 1 November 1914, she participated in the Battle of Coronel off Chile, where the Squadron defeated a British force.

The Squadron then steamed into the Atlantic, where they were defeated by the British at the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914.  SMS Gneisenau II was sunk with the loss of 598 men, with the remaining 187 men rescued and taken prisoner by the British.