| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Robinson & Russell |
| Operators | |
| Preceded by | SMS Preussischer Adler |
| Succeeded by | SMS Grille |
| Built | 1850–1851 |
| In service | 1851–1865 |
| Completed | 2 |
| Retired | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Paddle steamer aviso |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 53.85 m (176 ft 8 in) o/a |
| Beam |
|
| Draft | 2 m (6 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Range | 2,500 nmi (4,600 km; 2,900 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 4 × 25-pound mortars |
The Nix class was a pair of avisos built for the Prussian Navy in the early 1850s. The class comprised two ships: SMS Nix and Salamander. They were ordered as part of a modest program to strengthen the fleet at the urging of Prince Adalbert of Prussia in the immediate aftermath of the First Schleswig War, which had demonstrated that the weak fleet could not challenge the ability of Denmark to impose a blockade of Prussian and German ports. They were small vessels with a shallow draft, since they were intended to operate close to shore to defend Prussia's coast. Neither vessel saw significant service in the Prussian Navy before being sold to the British Royal Navy in exchange for the frigate Thetis in 1855. They were renamed Weser and Recruit, respectively, and the former saw action during the Crimean War in the Black Sea later in 1855. The two ships saw little activity after their sale to Britain, with Recruit being laid up in 1861 and Weser following in 1865. Recruit was sold for merchant service in 1870, while Weser was discarded in 1873.