Fifteen class gunboats were constructed for the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s and early 1860s. The class, which were the first steam gunboats built for the Prussian fleet, included , , , , , , , , , , , , , , and .

The Prussians armed the ships with three guns and planned to task them with guarding the country's coastline along the shallow waters of the Baltic Sea. However, as they proved to handle poorly in service, they instead spent much of their existences laid up ashore. Several of the boats were activated during the Second Schleswig War in 1864, and some took part in a minor battle against Danish warships. was scrapped in 1867 due to advancing dry rot, but the rest of the class remained in the fleet's inventory into the 1870s. After being discarded by the navy, most of the ships served on as storage barges, usually for naval mines, though and were sunk as target ships.

Design Following the dissolution of the in 1852, the leaders of the Prussian Navy sought resources to expand its forces to defend Prussia's coastline, which was extended in 1853 with the acquisition of the area that would become the port of Wilhelmshaven. In 1855, King Wilhelm IV signed what became known as the Fleet Foundation Plan of 1855, which authorized a total force of 42 sail- and oar-powered gunboats. By 1859, increasing tensions with neighboring Denmark led the Prussian (parliament) to demand a more powerful force. General Helmuth von Moltke, the new chief of the Prussian General Staff, issued a memorandum on 2 April 1859 calling for a strengthened fleet to guard Prussia's coast. (Rear Admiral) Jan Schröder, the head of the Prussian Naval Ministry, and Robert von Patow, the finance minister, responded with a larger program that included a total of 52 steam-powered gunboats to be built between 1860 and 1875. These would replace the sail- and oar-powered boats, some of which dated from the of the late 1840s. On 2 June 1859, Prince Regent Wilhelm approved the construction of the first twenty of these vessels. The preferences of the commander in chief of the navy, Prince Adalbert, who sought an ocean-going fleet, were ignored.

Specifications were set for a ship at around displacement, powered by an engine rated for , and carrying an armament of three guns. Meanwhile, Chief Constructor Carl Elbertzhagen had already begun collecting information on steam gunboats being built in Britain, France, Russia, and Brazil, to determine what characteristics the new Prussian vessels should have. Elbertzhagen prepared two gunboat designs: a smaller vessel to meet the design requirements, which became the class, and a substantially larger version that became the . All were to be built domestically, and of the first twenty vessels to be built, fifteen were to be of the type and four were to be -class gunboats. The requested that the ships be built so as to allow civilian use in peacetime, like the aviso .

The navy initially wanted to build two vessels to test them before beginning larger-scale production, but the tensions with Denmark meant that the vessels could not be delayed. Contracts for the fifteen -class gunboats were awarded to eight different shipyards. Iron components had to be imported from Britain because Prussian industry could not meet the demand, which led to delays. Further difficulties arose from the inexperience of some of the shipyards, which further slowed construction times.

Characteristics

The ships of the class were long at the waterline and long overall, with a beam of and a draft of . They displaced normally and up to at full load. Each vessel had a carvel hull built from oak that was sheathed with a layer of copper to protect it from corrosion and biofouling. The ships' crew consisted of 2 officers and 38 enlisted men. Each gunboat carried a pair of small boats. Steering was controlled via a single rudder. The -class gunboats handled poorly and rolled severely; they tended to be very wet. They were unable to steam in a head sea, and under sail power alone, were effectively immobile. The ships' poor handling earned them the nickname "" (sea pigs).

They were powered by a pair of horizontal, single-cylinder marine steam engines that drove one 3-bladed screw propeller and four coal-fired trunk boilers. The boilers were arranged in a single boiler room and vented through a single funnel. The ships had a top speed of from . The ships had a designed storage capacity for of coal for the boilers. As built, each ship was equipped with a three-masted schooner rig to supplement the steam engines. During combat, the mizzenmast could be laid flat so as to not block the firing arcs of the guns. In a refit conducted in 1872, all ships still in service had their sailing rigs removed.

The ships were armed with a battery of one rifled 24-pounder muzzle-loading gun and two rifled 12-pounder muzzle-loading guns. These were new guns, which were plagued with difficulties in service. The ships' severe rolling had negative effects on the ability of the gunners to aim the weapons. In the 1872 refit, all of the surviving ships were rearmed with a single RK L/22 breechloading gun, and in 1878, received a single breechloading gun instead.

Ships + Construction data Ship Builder Laid down Launched Commissioned Mitzlaff, Elbing 1859 January 1860 15 June 1861 1860 1860 J W Klawitter, Danzig 14 February 1860 1860 14 February 1860 Late 1860 Domcke, Grabow 14 February 1860 25 June 1861 14 February 1860 11 February 1864 Keier & Derient, Danzig April 1860 Late 1860 1860 Late 1860 Lübke, Wolgast 14 February 1860 11 February 1864 14 February 1860 1 March 1864 A E Nüscke, Grabow 14 February 1860 1 March 1864 14 February 1860 20 June 1861 Zieske, Stettin 14 February 1860 11 February 1864 14 February 1860 3 March 1864 Liegnitz, Grabow 29 April 1860 21 February 1864

Service history

The ships were intended for use as part of Prussia's coastal defense system, but their poor handling led to very infrequent service. They spent much of their careers laid up on land, and during this period, their copper sheathing was removed from the hulls so ventilation holes could be cut into the outer planking. Their entire propulsion system, including the masts and the funnel, was removed and roofs were erected over the hulls to keep the elements out.

During the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864, , , , , and were mobilized as part of the 1st Gunboat Division, led by the gunboat . They first saw action against the Danish steam frigate at the Battle of Jasmund on 17 March. While on patrol in the Baltic Sea on 14 April, they briefly engaged the Danish ship of the line and the steam frigate in a short and inconclusive action. Though the gunboats had little combat value against the much larger Danish warships, the Danes overestimated their capabilities, which led them to fail to press their blockade of Prussia's coast effectively.

The efforts to preserve the gunboats during their long inactive periods were not entirely successful, and already in 1867, was badly dry rotted; she was according struck from the naval register on 14 March that year and thereafter broken up. The rest of the class was activated during the Franco-Prussian War to defend Prussia's coast, primarily operating in the North Sea, either at the Jade Bight or the mouths of the Elbe, Weser, or Ems rivers, though and were stationed at Kiel and was based at Swinemünde, both in the Baltic. On 19 March 1872, , , and were struck from the register. was later sunk as a target ship, while the latter two became mine storage barges, both being renamed , based at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven, respectively. was struck the same day, but she was instead converted into a mine storage barge under the name , based at Wilhelmshaven. was struck on 17 July 1873 and also expended as a target. served as a tender for the artillery training ship in 1872.Through the early- to mid-1870s, was used as a tender for other vessels, including the training ship and the screw corvette .

was struck on 26 September 1875, initially being used as a coal storage hulk in Danzig. served as a tender for the (Naval Station of the Baltic Sea) from 1875 to 1877. During the same period, was assigned to tender duties for Renown. and were struck from the naval register on 9 January 1877, the former thereafter becoming a barge based in Kiel and the latter becoming the mine storage barge No 4 at Wilhelmshaven. saw some use as a tender for Renown in 1877, before being struck on 27 November, also being converted into a barge. In 1878, was converted into a tender for the gunnery school and was moved to Kiel for use as a mine storage barge. On 12 November that year, and were also struck, both thereafter being used as a barge in Kiel.

and were both struck from the register on 7 September 1880; was converted for use as a storage hulk, but s fate is unrecorded. In 1878, took over tender duties for Renown, and served in limited training exercises as well, until 1882 when Renown was replaced by the new, purpose-built gunnery training ship . was herself decommissioned in June that year, before being struck from the register on 14 November. She was converted into a mine storage barge, and was renamed No 3. She was based at Wilhelmshaven. was destroyed in torpedo experiments on 5 August 1884 during tests with the torpedo training ship . The wreck was eventually raised and scrapped in Kiel. The fates of the surviving ships are unknown.

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