Editing Protected cruiser (section)

===Germany===
[[File:SMS Hertha 1 1909.jpg|thumb|{{SMS|Hertha|1897|2}} on a visit to the United States in 1909]]
{{main|List of protected cruisers of Germany}}
The German [[Imperial German Navy|Imperial Navy]] (''Kaiserliche Marine'') built a series of protected cruisers in the 1880s and 1890s, starting with the two ships of the {{sclass|Irene|cruiser|4}} in the 1880s. The Navy completed only two additional classes of protected cruisers, comprising six more ships: the unique {{SMS|Kaiserin Augusta||2}}, and the five {{sclass|Victoria Louise|cruiser|0}} ships. The type then was superseded by the armored cruiser at the turn of the century, the first of which being {{SMS|Fürst Bismarck|1897|2}}. All of these ships tended to incorporate design elements from their foreign contemporaries, though the ''Victoria Louise'' class more closely resembled German battleships of the period, which carried lighter main guns and a greater number of secondary guns.<ref>Gardiner, pp. 249–254</ref>

These ships were employed as fleet scouts and colonial cruisers.<ref name=Groner/> Several of the ships served with the German [[East Asia Squadron]], and {{SMS|Hertha|1897|2}}, {{SMS|Irene||2}}, and {{SMS|Hansa|1898|2}} took part in the [[Battle of Taku Forts (1900)|Battle of Taku Forts]] in 1900 during the [[Boxer Rebellion]].<ref>Perry, p. 29</ref> During a deployment to American waters in 1902, {{SMS|Vineta|1897|2}} participated in the [[Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903]], where she [[Bombardment of Fort San Carlos|bombarded Fort San Carlos]].<ref name=NYT23011903>{{cite news |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 January 1903 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F7081FF93B5412738DDDAD0A94D9405B838CF1D3 |title=German Commander Blames Venezuelans; Commodore Scheder Says That Fort San Carlos Fired First}}</ref> Long since obsolete by the outbreak of World War I, the five ''Victoria Louise''-class vessels briefly served as training ships in the Baltic but were withdrawn by the end of 1914 for secondary duties. ''Kaiserin Augusta'' and the two ''Irene''-class cruisers similarly served in reduced capacities for the duration of the war. All eight ships were [[Ship breaking|broken up]] for scrap following Germany's defeat.<ref name=Groner>Gröner, pp. 47–53, 95</ref>