In February 1909, I Scouting Group went on another training cruise in the Atlantic; "Yorck" again stopped in Vigo from 17 to 23 February. After the ships' return to Germany, "Scharnhorst" was detached to the East Asia Squadron on 11 March, vacating the flagship role, which "Yorck" again filled. Heeringen and the command staff returned to the ship the same day. The cruisers joined the High Seas Fleet for another Atlantic cruise in July and August, and "Yorck" visited Vilagarcía de Arousa from 18 to 26 July. On the way back to Germany, the fleet stopped in Spithead, Britain, where it was received by the Royal Navy. By early 1910, the new armored cruiser was ready for service with the fleet, and so now-"VAdm" Heeringen hauled down his flag from "Yorck" on 25 April and transferred to the new vessel two days later. "Yorck" thereafter became the flagship of "KAdm" Reinhard Koch, the deputy commander of the group. Already on 16 May, Koch was replaced by "KAdm" Gustav Bachmann, who was in turn replaced by "KAdm" Maximilian von Spee on 15 September when Bachmann succeeded Heeringen as the group commander. "Yorck" won the "Schießpreis" for the 1909–1910 year. "KzS" Ludwig von Reuter served as the ship's commander from September 1910.