Bussard-class cruiser was present in the Caribbean during the Spanish–American War in 1898, though she took no active role in the conflict. Between 1898 and 1900, "Bussard" and "Seeadler" were modernized in Germany. In 1900, "Seeadler" participated in the suppression of the Boxer Rebellion in China, including a blockade of the Chinese coast. In December 1902, "Falke" and the protected cruiser joined British forces in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03 after Venezuelan forces seized a British merchant ship. The two cruisers helped British warships bombard Venezuelan coastal fortifications and blockade the coast. "Cormoran" and "Geier" were modernized between 1907 and 1909; only
Maine-class battleship World War I. After the war, all three ships were withdrawn from service between 1919 and 1920 before being sold for scrap in 1922 and 1923 and broken up. By 1897, the US Navy had five battleships under construction, and no plans to request additional units for 1898. With the destruction of the armored cruiser in Havana harbor and the subsequent declaration of war on Spain on 25 April 1898, however, a large naval expansion program was passed through Congress. The program called for three new battleships, the first one which would be named for the destroyed "Maine". Design work