 SMS Irene at anchor, date unknown
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| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | SMS Irene |
| Namesake | Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine |
| Builder | AG Vulcan Stettin, Stettin |
| Laid down | May 1886 |
| Launched | 23 July 1887 |
| Commissioned | 25 May 1888 |
| Reclassified | U-boat depot ship in 1914 |
| Stricken | 17 February 1914 |
| Fate | Broken up in 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Irene-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 103.7 m (340 ft) oa |
| Beam | 14.2 m (47 ft) |
| Draft | 6.74 m (22.1 ft) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 18 knots (33.3 km/h) |
| Range | 2,490 nmi (4,610 km; 2,870 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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SMS Irene was a protected cruiser or Kreuzerkorvette of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) and the lead ship of the Irene class. She had one sister, Prinzess Wilhelm; the two ships were the first protected cruisers built by the German Navy. Irene was laid down in 1886 at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, launched in July 1887, and commissioned into the fleet in May 1888. The cruiser was named after Princess Irene of Hesse and by Rhine, sister-in-law of Kaiser Wilhem II. As built, the ship was armed with a main battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).
Irene saw extensive service with the German fleet in the first years of her career, frequently escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht on cruises throughout Europe. In 1894, she was deployed to East Asian waters; she was in dock for engine maintenance in November 1897 when Otto von Diederichs seized the naval base Jiaozhou Bay, and so she was not present during the operation. She was present in the Philippines in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Manila Bay between American and Spanish squadrons during the Spanish–American War in 1898. Irene eventually returned to Germany in 1901. She remained in service until early 1914, when she was retired from front-line service and converted into a submarine tender. She served in this capacity until 1921, when she was sold for scrap and broken up the following year.