 Zieten in port
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Pommerania |
| Succeeded by | Blitz class |
| History | |
 German Empire | |
| Name | Zieten |
| Namesake | Hans Joachim von Zieten |
| Builder | Thames Iron Works, Blackwall, London |
| Laid down | 1875 |
| Launched | 9 March 1876 |
| Completed | 15 July 1876 |
| Commissioned | 1 August 1876 |
| Decommissioned | 5 July 1919 |
| Stricken | 6 December 1919 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 18 April 1921 |
| General characteristics (as built) | |
| Type | Aviso |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 79.4 m (260 ft 6 in) overall |
| Beam | 8.56 m (28 ft 1 in) |
| Draft | 3.8 m (12 ft 6 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range | 1,770 nmi (3,280 km; 2,040 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 2 × 38 cm (15 in) torpedo tubes |
SMS Zieten was the first torpedo-armed aviso built for the Imperial German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She was built in Britain in 1875–1876, and was the last major warship built for Germany by a foreign shipyard. Ordered as a testbed for the new Whitehead torpedo, Zieten was armed with a pair of 38 cm (15 in) torpedo tubes, and was capable of a top speed of 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph), making her the fastest ship in the German fleet at the time. Zieten was the first torpedo-armed vessel in a series of avisos that ultimately developed into the first light cruisers. In addition to her impact in German warship design, Zieten also influenced numerous other navies, who built dozens of similar avisos and torpedo vessels of their own.
Zieten served for the first two decades of her career with the torpedo boat flotilla. In 1878–1880, she was captained by Alfred von Tirpitz, the future architect of the High Seas Fleet. In 1882, she cruised the Mediterranean Sea with several other German warships, and was present during the British bombardment of Alexandria, where she protected German interests. Zieten was used as a fishery protection ship from 1899 until 1914, when the outbreak of World War I necessitated her mobilization as a coastal patrol ship. She served in this capacity for the duration of the war, and was stricken from the naval register in December 1919. The ship was finally sold for scrapping in August 1921, after forty-five years of service.