Elisabeta cruised the Black Sea and Mediterranean, attended the opening of the Kiel Canal, and visited Stockholm, where the king of Sweden inspected her. In 1892 she represented Romania at the Columbus celebrations in Livorno, Barcelona, and Lisbon. During the Potemkin episode, she could not match the battleship in combat, but her presence at Constanța represented the Romanian Navy at a moment of crisis. She also dealt with the torpedo boat Ismail that accompanied the mutinous battleship. In tactical terms, the cruiser played little part because she never fired. Romania had nevertheless sent its largest and most powerful warship, making her presence politically meaningful even without a fight.
Chapter · 13:33-15:55
Cruising diplomacy and the Potemkin episode
Her Black Sea and Mediterranean cruises lead into the Potemkin affair, where the presence of Romania's strongest warship mattered even though it never fired.