Upon commissioning, "Helgoland" replaced the pre-dreadnought in I Battle Squadron. On 9 February 1912, "Helgoland"s crew beat the German record for loading coal, taking 1,100 tons of coal on board in two hours; the record was previously held by the crew of the "Nassau"-class battleship . Kaiser Wilhelm II congratulated the crew through a Cabinet order. In March, fleet training maneuvers were conducted in the North Sea, followed by another round of exercises in November. The fleet also trained in the Skagerrak and Kattegat during the November exercises. The next year followed a similar training pattern, though a summer cruise to Norway was instituted.