The Naval Battle of Lemnos resulted from an Ottoman plan to lure the faster "Georgios Averof" away from the Dardanelles. The protected cruiser evaded the Greek blockade and broke out into the Aegean Sea; the assumption was that the Greeks would dispatch "Georgios Averof" to hunt down "Hamidiye". Despite the threat to Greek lines of communication posed by the cruiser, the Greek commander refused to detach "Georgios Averof" from her position. "Georgios Averof", "Spetsai", and her two sisters appeared approximately from Lemnos; when the powerful Greek cruiser was spotted, the Ottomans turned to retreat with "Georgios Averof" in pursuit. She scored several hits on the fleeing Ottoman ships before breaking off the chase. "Spetsai" and her sisters were too slow to keep up with "Georgios Averof", and played no active part in the engagement.