 Lithograph of Hela in 1902
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Imperial German Navy |
| Preceded by | Meteor class |
| Succeeded by | Gazelle class |
| Completed | 1 |
| Lost | 1 |
| History | |
 German Empire | |
| Name | Hela |
| Builder | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Laid down | December 1893 |
| Launched | 28 March 1895 |
| Commissioned | 3 May 1896 |
| Fate | Sunk, 13 September 1914 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Aviso |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 105 m (344 ft 6 in) overall |
| Beam | 11 m (36 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 4.64 m (15 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Range | 3,000 nmi (5,600 km; 3,500 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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SMS Hela was an aviso built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the mid-1890s, the last vessel of that type to be built by the German Empire. As the culmination of the type in German service, she represented significant improvements over earlier vessels, particularly the Wacht and Meteor classes, which had been disappointments in service. She was intended to serve as a fleet scout and as a flotilla leader for torpedo boats. Hela marked a step toward the development of the light cruiser. Armed with a battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns and three 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes, the ship proved to be too weakly-armed for front-line combat.
Hela had a relatively short active career; engine damage during sea trials shortly after her completion in 1896 delayed the start of her service with the fleet until 1898. She served as a scout for I Squadron from then until 1900, when she was deployed as part of an expeditionary force to help suppress the Boxer Uprising in Qing China. Hela saw little action during the deployment, instead frequently patrolling the coast of China and the Yangtze river. After returning to Germany in mid-1901, she served with I Scouting Group and the main fleet until late 1902, when she was reduced to a gunnery training ship, though boiler problems forced a more thorough reconstruction that lasted from 1903 to 1910.
The ship was used as a tender for the fleet from October 1910 through mid-1914, with few events of note for Hela during this period. Following the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Hela was deployed to the patrol line guarding the German Bight. She was present at, but was not engaged in, the Battle of Helgoland Bight in August. The next month, while conducting training off Helgoland, she was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS E9. Despite the fact that Hela sank in less than half an hour, all of her crew, save two men, were rescued by a German U-boat and patrol boat.