Wolf-class gunboat. The  class of steam gunboats comprised three ships: , , and , which were built for the German  (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ships were ordered as part of a construction program intended to begin replacing the old s that had been built a decade earlier, and to strengthen the fleet's force of cruising vessels as the recently founded German Empire began to expand its commercial activities, particularly in China. Unlike the older ships, the  class was intended to serve abroad to protect German economic interests overseas. They also introduced iron construction to German gunboat designs. The ships were armed with a battery of two medium-caliber guns and five lighter weapons, and had a top speed of .

After entering service in the late 1870s, all three ships cruised abroad extensively, frequently in the Pacific Ocean. During these voyages, they were used to protect German interests in China and the South Pacific, including the eventual colonies of German Samoa and German New Guinea. The ships also saw service in African waters, as Germany built a colonial empire in Kamerun, German South West Africa, and German East Africa.  was sunk in a typhoon off China in 1896, but  and  were both converted into survey ships in the late 1890s.  was used to map Germany's colonies in western Africa, while  worked in German home waters. Both vessels were eventually discarded in 1919;  was broken up that year, but  was converted into a merchant vessel, a role she filled until 1924, when she was accidentally destroyed by fire in Dieppe, France.

Design
German economic activity in Qing China in the 1870s faced significant threats from piracy and resistance from local officials, so the German  (Imperial Navy) stationed warships in East Asia to protect its trade interests. At the same time, the old s that had been ordered in 1859 needed to be replaced. The two s and the rebuilt  were too few for the task of patrolling the Far East, so another three vessels were ordered according to the fleet plan that had been approved in 1872. The design for the new ships was completed in 1876, and it called for reusing the engines from three of the s that had also been ordered in the 1859 plan. These three ships became the  class.

Unlike the earlier German gunboats, which were entirely of wood construction, the  class would be built with iron. The designers considered copper sheathing for the hulls of the new ships, since the gunboats were intended to serve abroad, and the sheathing would have protected the hulls from marine biofouling. But they ultimately decided against it, fearing that the iron hull and copper plating would cause galvanic corrosion. The three gunboats were nevertheless used extensively abroad to support the fleet's larger cruising screw corvettes and screw frigates.

Characteristics

The ships of the  class were  long at the waterline and  long overall, with a beam of . They had a draft of  forward, which increased slightly to  aft. They displaced  as designed and  at full load. Their hull was constructed with transverse iron frames and timber hull and deck planks, and was divided into six watertight compartments. The ships had a raised forecastle and sterncastle decks, and minimal superstructure.

Steering was controlled by a single rudder. The ships handled and maneuvered well, but pitched and rolled severely. They handled well under sail, but had difficulty making forward progress in a head sea. For  and , their crew consisted of 5 officers and 80 enlisted men, while  was manned by 5 officers and 101 enlisted sailors. Each vessel carried a number of small boats, including one pinnace, two cutters, one yawl, and one dinghy.

They were powered by a marine steam engine that drove a 2-bladed screw propeller that was  wide, which could be retracted while the ships were operating under sail.  Steam was provided by two coal-fired trunk fire-tube boilers that were vented through a single funnel. The engines were taken from the older -class gunboats , , and . Their propulsion system was rated to produce a top speed of  at , but they reached  in service. They could store  of coal for the boilers. At a cruising speed of , they could steam for . To supplement the steam engine on long voyages, the ships were fitted with a barque sailing rig with a total surface area of .

The ships were armed with a pair of  K L/23 built-up guns, which were supplied with a total of 270 rounds of ammunition. These guns had a range of . The -class ships carried an additional pair of  K L/24 built up guns, which were supplied with 200 rounds of ammunition. Three  Hotchkiss revolver cannon rounded out the armament.

Modifications

 and  received new boilers in 1885 and 1888, respectively. At some point in their careers, all three ships had their sailing rig cut down to a schooner barque rig, with a total area of , and eventually,  had only auxiliary sails.  was later rearmed, losing both of her 12.5  cm guns and one of the 8.7 cm pieces, with ammunition storage for the remaining gun reduced to 113 shells. One of her Hotchkiss revolvers was also removed. In place of these removed weapons, she received a  SK L/40 quick-firing gun, supplied with 250 rounds of ammunition. In 1897,  was disarmed altogether.

Ships

Service history

The three ships of the  class spent nearly their entire careers in active service on foreign stations, generally returning to Germany only for overhauls and modifications. s first voyage, from 1878 to 1884, took the ship to East Asia, primarily off the coast of China. On the way home, she was involved in the establishment of the colony of German South West Africa. Immediately after entering service in late 1879,  began the first of three extended cruises abroad. She sailed first for South America before moving to the South Pacific, where she served as one of the station ships in Samoa until 1879.

She returned to the South Pacific in 1882, and on the way, she stopped in Easter Island to examine the island. While in the South Pacific,  took part in the establishment of the colony of German New Guinea. She moved to eastern Africa in early 1886 to support attempts to establish a colony there before returning home in late 1887.  was sent on a deployment to East Asia in 1880 that lasted until 1886. The ship spent much of this time patrolling the coast of China, ready to protect German nationals in the country if need be. This included retaliating against pirates in the Pescadores Islands in 1882 and guarding Germans in Guangzhou, China, in 1883. She was sent to the central Pacific in 1885 during an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control of the Caroline Islands from Spain. After returning home in 1886, she was overhauled and modernized.

s next cruise, which lasted from 1886 to 1895, initially returned to East Asian waters, but she spent most of her time abroad in the South Pacific. In 1889, she carried the exiled King of Samoa, Malietoa Laupepa, back to the islands, where he was reinstated as king. In 1891, she rescued survivors from the wrecked . s final deployment overseas began in 1888 and lasted until 1897. During this period,  operated in Kamerun in Central Africa and routinely supported efforts to suppress rebellions against German rule.  was recommissioned in 1887 for another voyage to East Asian waters that lasted for nine years. She observed naval events during the First Sino-Japanese War, and took part in the rescue of Chinese sailors and soldiers after the Battle of Pungdo, and she was present when the main Japanese and Chinese fleets clashed at the Battle of the Yalu River.  sank in a typhoon while cruising in the Yellow Sea on 23 July 1896. Fatality figures vary; out of a crew of 82, 71 died according to Nottelmann, but Gröner states that 76 men died in the sinking.

After returning to Germany in 1895,  was converted into a survey ship, and in this capacity, she was sent to map Germany's colonies in Africa.  operated off the coast of Kamerun and German South West Africa until 1905. Throughout this period, the ship was also used for other tasks, including assisting the colonial  suppress unrest.  was also converted into a survey ship in 1897, though she served in home waters, a role she filled from 1899 to 1906 and then from 1911 to 1914.  was struck from the naval register on 3 February 1906 and thereafter converted into a repair ship based at Danzig. She served in this capacity until after World War I, and was sold to ship breakers on 26 April 1919. After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914,  was stationed as a guard ship on the Eider river. In May 1916, she returned to surveying duties. After the war, she was struck from the register on 7 April 1920, after having already been sold to a merchant shipping company on 15 July 1919. Renamed , she served as a commercial vessel until 2 May 1924, when her cargo caught fire in Dieppe, France. She sank in the harbor, but was later raised and scrapped.

Notes

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Wolf-class gunboats