&sq=&lang=&file=File:SMS_Otter_(1877).jpg) Otter under sail
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Wespe class |
| Preceded by | Wespe class |
| Succeeded by | Wolf class |
| History | |
| Name | Otter |
| Builder | Schichau-Werke, Elbing |
| Laid down | 1877 |
| Launched | 7 June 1877 |
| Commissioned | 1 April 1878 |
| Decommissioned | 18 March 1907 |
| Stricken | 27 May 1907 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1926 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 31 m (102 ft) |
| Beam | 6.15 m (20 ft 2 in) |
| Draft | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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SMS Otter was a gunboat built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. Originally intended for use in Chinese waters against local pirates, she instead remained in Germany through her career as a training ship. This was the result of the ship's very poor seaworthiness, which prevented her from making the long voyage to China. In German waters, she operated as a tender for the artillery school from 1880 to 1886; from 1887 to 1897, she served in the Ship Inspection Commission; and then from 1898 to 1907, Otter was assigned to the Mine Testing Commission. The ship became part of the torpedo school from 1907 to 1912, when she was converted into a coal storage barge. She was then sold into private service in 1914, ultimately to Anschütz & Co., which used Otter for compass testing. She was eventually broken up in 1926.