 SMS Wacht in 1888, early in her career
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Operators |  Imperial German Navy |
| Preceded by | SMS Greif |
| Succeeded by | Meteor class |
| Completed | 2 |
| Lost | 1 |
| Retired | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 85.8 m (281 ft 6 in) o/a |
| Beam | 9.66 m (31 ft 8 in) |
| Draft | 3.74 m (12 ft 3 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Range | 2,440 nmi (4,520 km; 2,810 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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The Wacht class was a pair of avisos built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late-1880s; the class comprised two ships, Wacht and Jagd. They were laid down in 1886 and 1887 and completed by 1888 and 1889, respectively. The ships were based on the previous aviso, SMS Greif, which had proved to be an unsuccessful design due to its lack of torpedo armament. As a result, the Wacht-class ships were equipped with three torpedo tubes to improve their combat power; they were also the first German avisos to carry armor protection.
Both ships served in the main German fleet for the entirety of their active duty careers. They were primarily employed in the peacetime routine of unit and fleet training maneuvers. In September 1901, Wacht was accidentally rammed by the ironclad SMS Sachsen during the annual fleet maneuvers. The collision caused serious damage to Wacht and she quickly sank. Jagd continued in service for another three years, after which she was withdrawn from service and used in various roles over the following sixteen years. She was sold for scrapping in 1920.