The "Möwe" was the vessel which took the Imperial Commissioner for West Africa, Gustav Nachtigal, out to seek treaties of protection with local rulers in 1884. On 4 July 1884 the first such treaty was signed at Bagida on the Togo coast, which thereby became a German colony. On 14 July 1884 Nachtigal took the "Möwe" to Bell-town (Douala) and signed a similar treaty, making Kamerun another colony of the German Empire. After this the "Möwe" brought the German flag to Nigeria, Gabon, and Angola, before taking Nachtigal south to found the new colony of German South West Africa. In 1889 it was involved in the suppression of the Abushiri revolt in German East Africa.