| Conflict: | SMS Geier Incident |
| Partof: | Part of Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I |
| Date: | October – November 1914 |
| Place: | Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, United States |
| Result: | SMS Geier and Locksun interned |
| Combatant1: |  United States
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| Strength1: | United States
|
| Strength2: | Collier Locksun |
| Casualties1: | None |
| Casualties2: | All crew of the ships were interned |
The SMS Geier Incident was an incident involving the German unprotected cruiser and the collier Locksun that went sailed into Honolulu during World War I. This increased some tensions between Germany and the United States during the war.
Geier sailed out from British Singapore before the United Kingdom had declared war on Germany and tried rallying with Admiral Maximilian von Spee and the East Asia Squadron. She intercepted a British steamer and captured her but not sink her.[1] After Japan declared war on Germany, Geier was being hunted and forced to go into Honolulu, within the territory of the United States which was still a neutral country at the time.[2]
The United States had a law announcing that belligerent nations could only have ships in American ports for under 24 hours. The Americans had Fort Shafter and Fort Kamehameha to enforce this. The captain of the ship, Karl Grasshof claimed that the ship was in need of boiler and machine repairs. The state of department inspected the ship and gave them three weeks to repair the ship. If time ran out the ships would be interned.[1]
When Geier was still being repaired, two Japanese ships, and were outside of Honolulu waiting to intercept Geier. On Geiers last day in Honolulu, a lot of bystanders who were mostly Japanese living in the city were awaiting a battle between the Germans and the Japanese. However, this did not happen and the captain surrendered the ship to the Americans.[1]
After the crews of the ships were interned, they were welcomed by the people living on Oahu. On April 6, 1917, the Americans finally joined the war and recommissioned the ship USS Schurz.[2]