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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Königliche Werft, Danzig |
| Preceded by | None |
| Succeeded by | Augusta-class corvette |
| Built | 1862–1867 |
| In service | 1864–1887 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Scrapped | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Screw corvette |
| Displacement | Full load: 1,202 metric tons (1,183 long tons) |
| Length | 64.9 m (212 ft 11 in) (loa) |
| Beam | 10.2 m (33 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 3.92 m (12 ft 10 in) (forward) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Range | 1,250 nautical miles (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Crew |
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| Armament |
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The Nymphe class of screw corvettes were the first vessels of the type to be built for the Prussian Navy in the early 1860s. The class comprised two vessels, Nymphe and Medusa. The ships were laid down in early 1862, and Nymphe was completed by late 1863, but work on Medusa proceeded slower, owing to budgetary disputes with the Prussian parliament and a desire to use experience in building Nymphe during the former's construction. The ships were built as part of a naval expansion program aimed at countering the powerful Danish Navy in the context of the disputed ownership of Schleswig and Holstein. The ships were armed with a battery of sixteen guns, and were capable of a top speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) under steam power. All of the material used in their construction was domestically produced, apart from the propulsion system, which was imported from Great Britain.
Nymphe was completed in time to see action during the Second Schleswig War with Denmark in 1864, at the Battle of Jasmund, where she was heavily engaged by a Danish steam frigate, being hit numerous times. Medusa entered service in 1867 and went on a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea in 1867–1868 and another cruise to East Asia in 1868–1871. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870–1871, Medusa was blockaded in Yokohama, Japan, and saw no action. Nymphe was similarly blockaded in Danzig, Prussia, and she made a surprise nighttime attack on the French squadron, inflicting no damage but nevertheless convincing the French admiral that his ironclad warships were unsuitable for a close blockade of Prussian ports.
Nymphe went on a cruise to East Asia in 1871–1874, while Medusa was converted into a training ship in 1872. Nymphe was similarly converted when she returned from Asian waters, and both ships served in this capacity for the next several years. They went on training cruises to the Americas and the Mediterranean. Medusa was worn out by 1880 and was removed from service, though Nymphe continued to operate until 1885, when she too was withdrawn. Both ships were hulked after being decommissioned and they were both retained until 1891, when they were broken up.