 Pfeil in 1899
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Pfeil |
| Builder | Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven |
| Laid down | 1881 |
| Launched | 16 September 1882 |
| Commissioned | 25 November 1884 |
| Stricken | 16 February 1922 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Blitz-class aviso |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 78.43 m (257 ft 4 in) o/a |
| Beam | 9.9 m (32 ft 6 in) |
| Draft | 4.07 m (13 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 15.7 knots (29.1 km/h; 18.1 mph) |
| Range | 2,440 nmi (4,520 km; 2,810 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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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ship was used to support the flotilla of torpedo boats that guarded the mouth of the Elbe until June 1915, when she was withdrawn for use as a tender for the commander of the High Seas Fleet.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.