SMS Panther ( 1885 ) SMS Panther was a torpedo cruiser ( " Torpedoschiff " ) of the Austro - Hungarian Navy . She and her sister ship , " Leopard , " were part of a program to build up Austria - Hungary ' s fleet of torpedo craft in the 1880s . Design . The Navy Commander ( " Marinekommandant " ) of the Austro - Hungarian fleet , Vice Admiral Maximilian Daublebsky von Sterneck , outlined in a memorandum of 8 September 1884 the requirements for a cruiser equipped with a reinforced ram bow for ramming as well as torpedoes for attacks on larger warships . Such vessels would also be small and fast enough to undertake patrol and reconnaissance duties . They were originally classified as " torpedo ships " ( " Torpedoschiff " ) - equivalent of a torpedo cruiser in other navies . In 1903 they were reclassified as 3rd Class Cruisers , then in 1909 as small cruisers ( " Kleine Kreuzer " ) . When funds for two ships were approved by the Austro - Hungarian Reichsrat , bids were solicited from British builders . The order went to the firm of W . G . Armstrong at Elswick , Newcastle upon Tyne and its chief designer , William Henry White ( afterwards the British Director of Naval Construction from 1885 to 1902 ) . As designed by White , " Panther " was a steel - hulled vessel of 1 , 557 tons displacement . She measured 240 feet nine inches in length with a beam of 34 feet 11 inches and a draft ( as completed ) of 14 feet five inches . Propulsion was supplied by two compound steam engines with four cylindrical boilers , giving a speed of 19 . 4 knots . The crew comprised 186 officers and men . Original armament of " Panther " consisted of two 12 cm Krupp guns , four 4 . 7 cm quick - firing guns and six 4 . 7 cm revolver cannon with four 14 - inch torpedo tubes . The torpedo tubes were located singly , in the bow and stern and at either beam . " Panther " was built with as pronounced a ram bow as the larger Austro - Hungarian warships of the time . Service . " Panther " was launched on 13 June 1885 . The Austro - Hungarian Navy ' s supervising naval architect , Siegfried Popper , found that the ship ' s draft aft was four feet 11 inches more than intended . After lengthy disagreement , White and the shipyard admitted the error , which was partly offset through a shift in the cruiser ' s weight distribution , so that the excessive draft aft was reduced to two feet five inches . Upon completion , " Panther " was leader of a torpedo boat flotilla . " Panther " and " Leopard " represented Austria - Hungary at the Barcelona World ' s Exposition in 1888 . In 1891 " Panther ' s " four 4 . 7 cm guns were replaced with ten newer - model guns of the same caliber . She was reclassified as a 3rd Class cruiser in 1903 and as a small cruiser ( " Kleiner Kreuzer " ) in 1909 . Also in 1909 , the aft torpedo tube was removed and four 6 . 6 cm guns added to her armament . When the First World War began in 1914 , " Panther " was moved from Trieste to Cattaro . She took part in the bombardment of enemy batteries on Mount Lovcen ( which dominated Cattaro Bay ) on 9 September 1914 and 8 / 9 January 1916 . In May 1917 she was moved to Pola as a seagoing training ship for the submarine commander ' s school . " Panther " was withdrawn from service in October 1918 only weeks before the collapse of the Austro - Hungarian Empire . Allocated to Britain as a war reparation in 1920 , she was immediately sold and scrapped in Italy .