The German Army requested naval assistance for its campaign against Russia. Prince Heinrich, the commander of all naval forces in the Baltic, made VII Division, IV Scouting Group, and the torpedo boats of the Baltic fleet available for the operation. On 6 May, the VII Division ships were tasked with providing support for the assault on Libau. "Wettin" and the other ships were stationed off Gotland to intercept any Russian cruisers that might attempt to intervene in the landings, but the Russians took no such action. When cruisers from IV Scouting Group encountered Russian cruisers patrolling off Gotland, ships of VII Division deployed, mounting a third dummy funnel to disguise them as the more powerful . They were joined by the cruiser . The ships advanced as far as the island of Utö on 9 May and Kopparstenarna the following day, but by then the Russian cruisers had withdrawn. Later that day, the British submarines and spotted IV Squadron but were too far away to attack.