"Yorck" spent the first seven years of her career in I Scouting Group, the reconnaissance force for the High Seas Fleet, initially as the group flagship. During this period, the ship was occupied with training exercises and made several cruises in the Atlantic Ocean. "Yorck" was involved in a number of accidents, including an accidental explosion aboard the ship in 1911 and a collision with a torpedo boat in 1913. In May 1913, she was decommissioned and placed in reserve until the outbreak of World War I in July 1914. She was thereafter mobilized and assigned to III Scouting Group. On 3 November, she formed part of the screen for the High Seas Fleet as it sailed to support a German raid on Yarmouth; on the return of the fleet to Wilhelmshaven, the ships encountered heavy fog and anchored in the Schillig Roads to await better visibility. Believing the fog to have cleared sufficiently, the ship's commander ordered "Yorck" to get underway in the early hours of 4 November. The ship entered a German minefield in the haze, struck two mines, and sank with heavy loss of life. The wreck was dismantled progressively between the 1920s and 1980s to reduce the navigational hazard it posed.