 Schwalbe in the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | Schwalbe |
| Builder | Kaiserliche Werft, Wilhelmshaven |
| Laid down | April 1886 |
| Launched | 16 August 1887 |
| Commissioned | 8 May 1888 |
| In service | 12 November 1888 |
| Stricken | 6 December 1919 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Schwalbe class |
| Type | Unprotected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 66.90 m (219 ft 6 in) |
| Beam | 9.36 m (30 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 4.4 m (14 ft 5 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
| Range | 3,290 nmi (6,090 km; 3,790 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
SMS Schwalbe ("His Majesty's Ship Schwalbe—Swallow")[a] was an unprotected cruiser built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the lead ship of the Schwalbe class. She had one sister ship, Sperber. Schwalbe was built at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Dockyard) in Wilhelmshaven; her keel was laid down in April 1886 and her completed hull was launched in August 1887. She was commissioned for service in May 1888. Designed for colonial service, Schwalbe was armed with a main battery of eight 10.5-centimeter (4.1 in) guns and had a cruising radius of over 3,000 nautical miles (5,600 km; 3,500 mi); she also had an auxiliary sailing rig to supplement her steam engines.
Schwalbe spent the majority of her career overseas. She served in German East Africa from 1889 to 1893, and during this period she assisted in the suppression of the Abushiri Revolt. In 1893, she returned to Germany for a major overhaul. She was decommissioned until 1898, when she returned to service for another tour abroad. She initially returned to German East Africa, where she patrolled South African waters to protect German shipping during the Second Boer War. The outbreak of the Boxer Uprising in China in 1900 prompted the Kaiserliche Marine to send Schwalbe to join the European forces battling the Boxers. Schwalbe spent 1901 and 1902 in Chinese waters, blockading the mouth of the Yangtze and suppressing local unrest. The ship returned to Germany in 1903 for another major overhaul and another stint in reserve. She ended her career as a barracks ship during World War I, and as a target ship in 1918. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1922.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).