Tegetthoff received his first command, the naval schooner "Elisabeth", in 1854. This was at the time of the Austrian Navy's intensive conversion to steam power, of which he was an earnest advocate. In 1855 he was appointed commander of the paddle steamer "Taurus", patrolling the Sulina mouth of the Danube during the Crimean War. This service brought him to the favorable notice of Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria, the "Oberkommandant der Marine" (High Commander of the Navy), with whom he had been acquainted since 1850. Promoted to "Korvettenkapitän" in 1857, Tegetthoff served on a semi-official scientific expedition to the Red Sea and to the island of Socotra. Having shown exceptional diplomatic and organizational ability, in December 1857 he was appointed a staff officer. He was named commander in 1858 of the new screw corvette "Erzherzog Friedrich" on the coast of Morocco, then in a confused state of disorder.