SMS Meteor (1890)

SMS Meteor at anchor
History
German Empire
Name	SMS Meteor
Builder	Germaniawerft
Laid down	December 1888
Launched	20 January 1890
Commissioned	19 May 1891
Fate	Scrapped, 1919
General characteristics
Class and type	Meteor-class aviso
Displacement	Design: 961 t (946 long tons) Full load: 1,078 t (1,061 long tons)
Length	79.86 m (262 ft) o/a
Beam	9.56 m (31 ft 4 in)
Draft	3.68 m (12 ft 1 in)
Installed power	4 × locomotive boilers 4,500 PS (4,400 ihp)
Propulsion	2 × double-expansion steam engines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range	960 nmi (1,780 km; 1,100 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement	7 officers 108 enlisted men
Armament	4 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns 3 × 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	Deck: 15 mm (0.59 in) Conning tower: 30 mm (1.2 in)

SMS Meteor was an aviso of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) built in the late 1880s and early 1890s, the lead ship of her class that include one other vessel, Comet. Intended to screen the main fleet against attacking torpedo boats, Meteor was armed with a battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns. Her design suffered from several defects, including excessive vibration and poor handling in heavy seas, both of which could not be corrected. These problems limited the ship's career. She served briefly as a guard ship in Kiel in 1892, as an aviso with the main fleet in 1893–1894, and as a fishery protection ship in 1895–1896. Out of service by the end of 1896, Meteor was later used as a harbor defense vessel in 1904 and then as a barracks ship from 1911 to 1919, when she was sold to ship breakers and dismantled.