The German navies, beginning with the Prussian Navy in the 1840s, acquired a series of avisos for use in a variety of roles, including as scouts, flagships for gunboat flotillas, and dispatch vessels. The first such vessel, , was a packet steamer requisitioned for service during the First Schleswig War in 1848, though she returned to civilian duty after the war. In 1850, the Prussians ordered a pair of small vessels—the —from Britain; like "Preussicher Adler", these were both paddle steamers. The first screw-driven aviso followed in 1856: the French-built . Another paddle steamer, , was laid down in 1858, the first vessel of the type built in a German shipyard. Many of these vessels served as yachts for the royal and later imperial family. During the Second Schleswig War, "Loreley" and "Preussischer Adler" saw action at the Battles of Jasmind and Heligoland, respectively.