SMS Pfeil

Pfeil in 1899
History
German Empire
NamePfeil
BuilderKaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven
Laid down1881
Launched16 September 1882
Commissioned25 November 1884
Stricken16 February 1922
FateScrapped, 1922
General characteristics
Class and typeBlitz-class aviso
Displacement
Length78.43 m (257 ft 4 in) o/a
Beam9.9 m (32 ft 6 in)
Draft4.07 m (13 ft 4 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed15.7 knots (29.1 km/h; 18.1 mph)
Range2,440 nmi (4,520 km; 2,810 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement
  • 7 officers
  • 127 enlisted men
Armament
  • 1 × 12.5 cm (4.9 in) K L/23 gun
  • 4 × 8.7 cm (3.4 in) K L/23 guns
  • 1 × 35 cm (13.8 in) torpedo tube

SMS Pfeil was an aviso of the Imperial German Navy, the second and final member of the Blitz class. Her primary offensive armament consisted of a bow-mounted torpedo tube, and she was armed with a battery of light guns to defend herself against torpedo boats, a sign of the growing importance of torpedoes as effective weapons in the period. The Blitz class featured a number of innovations in German warship design: they were the first steel hulled warships and the first cruiser-type ships to discard traditional sailing rigs.

Pfeil served in a variety of roles in her long career in the German fleet. She initially operated with the training squadron in the late 1880s, conducting exercises and training cruises. In late 1888, she was commissioned to reinforce the East Africa Squadron then in the midst of suppressing the Abushiri revolt against colonial rule in German East Africa. She helped to conduct a blockade of the coast, contributed men to landing parties, and bombarded rebel troops. She operated with the Maneuver Squadron through the 1890s and also saw service as a fishery protection vessel and a training ship for engine room crews.

Pfeil was involved in a number of accidents, including accidentally colliding with a lightship in 1890, a torpedo boat in 1894, and a schooner in 1898 (sinking the latter vessel). After the start of World War I in August 1914, the ship was used to support the flotilla of torpedo boats that guarded the mouth of the Elbe until June 1915, when she was withdrawn for use as a tender for the commander of the High Seas Fleet. Decommissioned in December 1918, she was struck from the naval register in February 1922 and broken up in Wilhelmshaven.