SMS"SMS" stands for , or "His Majesty's Ship" in German. was a German flush-deck steam corvette, the lead ship of the , named after the 1813 Battle of Leipzig. She was built for the (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s, being laid down in early 1875, launched in September that year, and commissioned into the fleet in May 1877. She had one sister ship, . Intended for long cruises abroad, the ship was fitted with a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine if coal was unavailable. She carried a battery of twelve guns.

went on two overseas cruises as a training ship for naval cadets early in her career. The first, in 1877–1878, went to Central America and East Asia; while in Central American waters, she was involved in an international dispute between Germany and Nicaragua. The second cruise, which took place from 1882 to 1884, also went to East Asia. While on the way back to Germany, she stopped in the newly-proclaimed colony of German Southwest Africa, where she participated in the flag-raising ceremony. From 1885 to 1888, was extensively modernized and reconstructed for use as a squadron flagship overseas.

In 1888, embarked on a major overseas deployment, first to German East Africa, which was in the midst of the Abushiri revolt. and several other warships formed a cruiser squadron that bombarded rebel troops and sent landing parties ashore to suppress the rebellion, which was defeated by 1890. and the rest of the squadron went to East Asia, but in 1891 they were reassigned to Chilean waters to protect German interests during the Civil War of 1891. After the fighting subsided, alternated between East Africa and East Asia before being recalled to Germany in 1893 after a refit in Cape Town revealed a significant deterioration in her condition. Found to be not worth repairing, she was converted into a barracks ship and training hulk, a role she filled until 1919, when she sank unexpectedly. She was raised in 1921 and subsequently broken up that year.

Design

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the newly formed (Imperial Navy) began an expansion program to strengthen the fleet. The naval command determined that modern steam corvettes were necessary for scouting purposes, as well as overseas cruising duties to protect German interests abroad. The two -class corvettes were ordered as part of the fleet plan of 1873, which called for a total of twenty unarmored corvettes, twelve of which were already either in service or under construction. was the first iron-hulled corvette of the German fleet; originally designed with a forecastle, the ship was completed with a flush deck instead.

was long overall, with a beam of and a draft of forward. She displaced at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 39 officers and 386 enlisted men. She was powered by a single marine steam engine that drove one 2-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by six coal-fired fire-tube boilers, which gave her a top speed of at . She had a cruising radius of at a speed of . was equipped with a full ship rig to supplement her steam engines on long-distance cruises.

was armed with a battery of twelve breech-loading guns, two of which were 25-caliber (cal.); the other ten were shorter 20-cal. weapons. The two longer guns were on the upper deck as chase guns, one forward and one aft, and the rest were placed on the broadside. The ship also carried a pair of landing guns that could be taken ashore with a landing party.

Modifications In the early 1880s, she had four Hotchkiss revolver cannon installed, along with four torpedo tubes. These were all above-water launchers, with two in the bow and one on each side. By this time, another pair of 8.8 cm landing guns had been added to the ship's equipment.

A more substantial reconstruction was effected in 1885 and 1886. This included replacing her original boilers with ten coal-burning Scotch marine boilers, which were divided into two boiler rooms. These were vented through a pair of fixed funnels. The copper sheathing of her hull was replaced, and additional watertight bulkheads were installed. The number of 3.7 cm guns was increased to six.

Service history was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin on 1 April 1874. Her completed hull was launched on 13 September 1875, and her launching ceremony was attended by the Chief of the (Imperial Admiralty), General Albrecht von Stosch, who christened the ship after the 1813 Battle of Leipzig. After fitting-out work was completed, she was towed from Stettin to Swinemünde on 31 May 1877 and was commissioned into the fleet the following day, though she had not yet had her armament installed. The Oberburgermeister of Leipzig, Otto Robert Georgi, and Field Marshal Prince Friedrich Karl of Prussia attended the commissioning ceremony; Georgi gave the ship its flags as a gift from the city of Leipzig. then began initial sea trials that lasted until 12 June. The ship then had her guns installed and rigging fitted, which took some three months.

began further trials starting on 13 September under the command of (KK—Corvette Captain) Carl Paschen. A week later, she accidentally ran aground off Kleverberg outside Kiel and had to have some of ballast removed before she could be refloated. The ship's hull was not seriously damaged in the accident, however, and she was then towed to the (Imperial Shipyard) in Kiel by the shipyard tugboat . Sea trials were completed on 5 October, and the following day, was ordered to begin preparations for her first overseas cruise. The ship was dry-docked on 23 October for repairs following the grounding. Another mishap occurred after this work was completed, when she broke her bowsprit while being moved in the port; this delayed her departure until 17 November.

First overseas cruise

Still under Paschen's command, was to be employed as a training ship for naval cadets. She embarked men from the Crew of 1876, which included the future admirals Erich Gühler, Wilhelm Schack, and Adolph von Bassewitz. Paschen's orders instructed him to proceed to East Asia, where he would serve as the commander of German warships in the region. On 17 November, departed Germany and crossed the Atlantic Ocean, passing around South America. She arrived in Valparaíso, Chile, on 4 February 1878, where she med the corvette . The two ships proceeded north, though had to stop at Callao, Peru, to replenish her fuel bunkers as the ship had proved to have a voracious appetite for coal. Continuing north, the two corvettes were joined by the screw frigate , and the three vessels temporarily formed a squadron that was ordered to protect German interests in Nicaragua during the so-called "Eisenstuck Affair". A pair of German merchants, Paul and Christian Eisenstuck, were reportedly attacked in the country and the Nicaraguan government did not investigate the incident quickly enough for German satisfaction, and so Bernhard Ernst von Bülow, the foreign minister, ordered a flotilla of warships to enforce German demands for an indemnity. In early 1878, and five other vessels that had gathered off the coast landed men at Corinto to seize weapons in the event that Nicaragua chose to resist German demands, though the government quickly acceded.

On 11 April, resumed her voyage to East Asia. She stopped in Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands on 25 May, where she was visited by King Kalākaua. She then visited several ports in Mexico and the United States, before proceeding across the Pacific. She arrived in Yokohama, Japan on 5 July, where she relieved the corvette , which then departed for Germany. At the time, the East Asia Squadron also included the gunboats and , though was soon replaced by , and the corvette joined them later. On 7 October, Paschen was promoted to the rank of (KzS—Captain at Sea); at that time, all four ships of the squadron rendezvoused in Nagasaki, Japan. Over the following five months, remained in Japanese waters. In April 1879, she sailed to Hong Kong, China, where she met her sister ship and the corvette , which had been sent to replace and , respectively. The captain of formally took command of the station on 13 May in Hong Kong. On 28 May, departed Shanghai and began the voyage back to Germany, stopping in Singapore, Anjer in the Dutch East Indies, Mauritius, Cape Town, South Africa, and Plymouth, Great Britain, before arriving in Kiel on 27 September. There, she was decommissioned.

Second overseas cruise remained out of service until late 1882, and during this period she underwent an extensive overhaul that included moving the bridge further aft, replacing the rudder with a more effective one, and installing the four 35 cm torpedo tubes. On returning to service in October 1882 under the command of KK Otto Herbig, she embarked the 1881 Crew, which included Franz von Hipper. The ship departed Germany on 19 October, under strict orders from Stosch to limit consumption of coal to absolute necessity. After encountering severe storms in the North Sea, stopped in Plymouth and Yarmouth to wait for the weather to improve. She thereafter followed the same route to East Asia as she had in 1877, though she did not stop in Central America while en route. She reached East Asia in June 1883, where she joined the corvette , the flagship of (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Louis von Blanc. In August, visited Vladivostok, Russia, and in October, she carried the German Consul General from Shanghai to Chemulpo, so he could sign a trade agreement between Germany and the Kingdom of Korea. Poor weather conditions compelled to stay in Korea through December, and during this period Herbig, four officers, and the ship's band went to visit King Gojong of Korea in Seoul. On 15 December, Herbig was promoted to the rank of . later visited Xiamen, China, which had been the site of a minor diplomatic incident.

In early March 1884, received orders to begin the voyage back to Germany. The ship stopped first in Manila in the Philippines before sailing through the Sulu Sea to northern Borneo, where she stopped in Sandakan. While in Borneo, she grounded on Pegasus rock, though she was able to pull herself free. From there, she sailed to Singapore for repairs that lasted from 19 April to 10 June. During this stay, a major outbreak of fever rendered 6 officers and 230 sailors seriously ill, and they had to be transported home, with a replacement crew sent to bring back to Germany. While in Cape Town, Herbig received new orders directing him to take to German South West Africa, which had recently been declared a German protectorate. sailed to Lüderitz Bay on 18 July, where she was joined by on 6 August. s captain read the formal proclamation announcing the German protectorate, and remained in the area to patrol the new colony. On 30 August, she went to the island of Fernando Po, where she met the gunboat , which had the German Commissioner Gustav Nachtigal aboard. On 5 September, she sailed to Porto Seguro in Togoland. then left West African waters and returned to Germany by way of Cape Verde, Madeira, and Plymouth. She reached Wilhelmshaven, Germany, on 9 October.

Refit