 The conflict was precipitated by an 1897-1898 Christian uprising against Ottoman rule on the island of Crete, which was the object of an intervention between February 1897 and December 1898 by the International Squadron, a multinational force made up of ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, French Navy, Imperial German Navy, Italian Royal Navy ("Regia Marina"), Imperial Russian Navy, and British Royal Navy.The international intervention in Crete concluded with the creation of an autonomous Cretan State under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Empire in December 1898.Between 1897 and 1900, "Psara" and her sister-ships were partially rearmed; "Psara" was modified at the La Seyne shipyard.