page_title: SMS Ariadne (1871)
section_title: Second overseas deployment
hierarchical_section_title: SMS Ariadne (1871) / Service history / Second overseas deployment
caption_attribution_description: Español: La escadra Aleman de America Central al frente de Corinto/Nicaragua, durante en el incidente Eisenstuck, marzo 1878. De la izquierda las corbetas SMS LEIPZIG, SMS ELISABETH y SMS ARIADNE. Dibujo de Hermann Penner (?-1894)Deutsch: Das deutsche Zentralamerikanische Geschwader vor Corinto/Nicaragua, März 1878, während der Eisenstuck-Affäre. Von links SMS LEIPZIG, SMS ELISABETH und SMS ARIADNE. Zeichnung von Hermann Penner (?-1894)English: The German Central American squadron at Corinto/Nicaragua, march 1878, during the Eisenstuck affair. From the left SMS LEIPZIG, SMS ELISABETH and SMS ARIADNE. Drawing by Hermann Penner (?-1894)
context_page_description: SMS Ariadne was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine. She was the lead ship of the Ariadne class, which included two other ships, Luise and Freya. Ordered as part of a naval expansion program after the Austro-Prussian War, Ariadne was laid down in September 1868, launched in July 1871, and was commissioned in November 1872. Ariadne was a small vessel, armed with a battery of just eight guns.
  Ariadne went on four major overseas cruises during her career. The first, from late 1874 to late 1876, saw the ship visit Chinese waters where she protected German shipping from pirate attacks. During the second, from late 1877 to late 1879, Ariadne operated off South America and the central Pacific Ocean, where her captain negotiated a series of trade agreements with local chiefs. In 1880–1881, the ship went to South American waters to protect German interests during the War of the Pacific between Peru, Chile, and Bolivia, and in 1884–1885, she operated off West Africa, where she negotiated the acquisition of a protectorate in what is now Guinea.
context_section_description: Ariadne was given a thorough overhaul that lasted until late 1877; she was recommissioned on 15 October for another overseas cruise, this time to Central America and the central Pacific Ocean. She left Germany on 30 October, her departure having been delayed by heavy storms. Bad weather forced her to stop in Margate, Great Britain, to seek shelter. She was able to resume her voyage only on 16 December. Ariadne sailed to Funchal, Madeira and then proceeded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she arrived in January 1878. She then sailed to Punta Arenas, Chile, to replenish her coal, but on arrival her crew discovered that the local depot had no coal. The crew had to cut down trees to burn in the boilers instead.
  Ariadne visited several islands in the Gulf of Penas before continuing on to Valparaiso, where she rendezvoused with the corvette Leipzig. The two ships sailed north to Panama, where they met Elisabeth; the three ships formed a squadron under the command of Elisabeth's captain, KzS Wilhelm von Wickede. They then sailed to Nicaragua, where the previous year a dispute with Germany had resulted in the German ambassador being attacked. Ariadne then sailed independently to Panama, where she received the order to leave South America and cross the Pacific. She sailed to the Galápagos Islands and then to the Marquesas Islands, where she visited the islands of Nuku Hiva and Fatu Hiva. Ariadne then sailed to Tahiti and visited the town of Papeete, where her commander, Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Bartholomäus von Werner assured the local government that Germany had no intent of colonizing the islands.
  Ariadne arrived in Apia, Samoa on 23 June. Under pressure from the United States, two Samoan chiefs had unilaterally repudiated the trade agreement they had signed with Germany. Ariadne was tasked with punishing the chiefs, and she sent men ashore to capture the towns of Saluafata and Falealili on the north coast of the island of Upolu. Ariadne left Samoa on 16 March to go to Sydney, Australia, where Werner informed Berlin of his activities. The ship also picked up the German consul Weber and, departing Sydney on 20 October, began a tour of the Melanesian and Micronesian islands. The ship visited Nukuʻalofa in the Tonga Islands from 26 to 29 October and Levuka and Tariani in the Fiji Islands from 30 October to 2 November. On 13 November, while in the Ellice Islands, Werner concluded trade agreements with the islands of Funafuti and Vaitupu.
  While visiting the Gilbert Islands, Ariadne had to conduct hydrographic surveys to correct the navigational charts of the area. In the Marshall Islands, Werner negotiated another trade and friendship agreement with the main island of Jaluit on 29 November. The treaty also allocated part of the port as a coaling station for German ships. On 11 December, Ariadne stopped in Mioko Island in what was to later become Neu Lauenberg; there was insufficient coal there, and so the crew again had to resort to cutting wood for the boilers. Weber asked Werner to continue the tour of the island of New Pomerania to show the flag and secure additional trade treaties. On 19–20 December, Werner concluded an agreement with the chief of Mioko Island to establish a coaling station there.
  Ariadne began the voyage back to Samoa on 21 December, stopping briefly at Savo Island in the Soloman Islands before reaching Apia on 16 January 1879. There, the two Samoan chiefs had finally agreed to honor the agreement with Germany, and to allow the construction of a coaling station at Saluafata. On 25 January, Ariadne left for Auckland, New Zealand to cable Berlin and inform the government of the developments in Samoa. On arriving there on 4 February, Ariadne received the order to return to Germany once her replacement, the corvette Bismarck, arrived in Apia. Ariadne stopped in Nukualofa on the way to present the chief with a medal that had been awarded by Kaiser Wilhelm I. Bismarck reached Apia on 19 May, allowing Ariadne to leave on 28 May. She sailed through the New Hebrides, passed through the Torres Strait and th
caption: Illustration of the Central America Squadron, with Leipzig, Elisabeth, and Ariadne from left to right
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