SMS Falke

SMS Falke in 1892
History
German Empire
NameFalke
NamesakeFalke
Laid downJanuary 1890
Launched4 April 1891
Commissioned14 September 1891
FateScrapped, 1913
General characteristics
Class and typeBussard-class unprotected cruiser
Displacement
Length82.6 m (271 ft 0 in)
Beam12.5 m (41 ft 0 in)
Draft4.45 m (14 ft 7 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Range2,990 nmi (5,540 km) at 9 knots (17 km/h)
Complement
  • 9 officers
  • 152 enlisted men
Armament

SMS Falke ("His Majesty's Ship FalkeFalcon")[a] was an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class, built for the Imperial German Navy. She was the second member of the class of six vessels. The cruiser was laid down in 1890, launched in April 1891, and commissioned into the fleet in September of that month. Designed for overseas service, she carried a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph).

Falke served abroad for the majority of her career, seeing duty in East Asia, the Central Pacific, and the Americas. She assisted in the suppression of a revolt in Samoa in 1893, and was damaged in a later uprising there in 1899. In 1901, Falke was transferred to the American Station, and the following year she took part in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03, during which she helped enforce an Anglo-German blockade of the Venezuelan coast. In 1907, Falke was recalled to Germany. She was stricken from the naval register in late 1912 and subsequently broken up for scrap.
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