The small cruiser SMS Wiesbaden, which entered service with the Imperial Navy on September 1, 1915, was built at the Vulcan AG shipyard in Stettin. With a length of approx. 145 m, it had a peacetime crew of 474 men, which was increased to 590 during the First World War. With a displacement of 6,601 tons, her maximum speed was approx. 27.5 knots; her armament included eight 15 cm guns, two 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns and four torpedo tubes, each with a diameter of 50 cm. The commander was Kapitän zur See Fritz Reiss (1873-1916) and the first officer was Kapitänleutnant Walter Berger (1880-1916).

During the First World War, the "Wiesbaden" belonged to the II Reconnaissance Group and provided outpost and security services in the North Sea area. On 31.05.1916, the ship was involved in the Battle of the Skagerrak and belonged to a group of pursuers of the British cruiser "Chester", which unexpectedly encountered British battlecruisers. The small cruiser SMS Wiesbaden received a direct hit in the engine room, was unable to maneuver and sank after numerous heavy hits on 01.06. Only 22 of the 590 crew members were able to save themselves on three rafts; however, only the chief stoker Hugo Zenne survived. At the invitation of the city, he later spent an honorary leave in Wiesbaden and was allowed to sign the Golden Book in 1935.

Already during the First World War, an extremely popular report about his rescue was published with his cooperation, which also made the fate of the small cruiser SMS Wiesbaden known nationwide. The wreck was not discovered until 1983. The sponsorship gifts from the city of Wiesbaden worth RM 5,000 (books, musical instruments, silver cutlery and pictures of the town hall and the Kurhaus) were never handed over to the crew, as this was supposed to happen after the end of the war. The cutlery is still in Wiesbaden's possession today, as is a model of the first small cruiser SMS Wiesbaden.