SMS was the lead ship of the two-vessel of avisos built for the Prussian Navy in the early 1850s. After commissioning in 1851, saw little activity, apart from short training exercises and cruises in the Baltic Sea, which were frequently punctuated with boiler fires. A dissatisfied Prussian Navy decided to sell both -class ships. In 1855, the Prussians sold to the British Royal Navy in exchange for the sail frigate , and was commissioned as HMS Weser. She saw action during the Crimean War at the Battle of Kinburn in October 1855, and thereafter saw little activity, being based in Malta. She was ultimately decommissioned in 1865, used as a harbor ship, and then sold to ship breakers in 1873.
Design
The -class avisos were paddle steamers designed by the British naval architect John Scott Russell and Prince Adalbert of Prussia in 1849. They were authorized in 1850 as part of a program to strengthen the small Prussian Navy during the First Schleswig War; they were ordered from Russell's firm, Robinson & Russell, along with the larger paddle steamer , which was to be built under British supervision in Prussia.
was long overall, with a beam of over the hull and over the paddle wheels. With a design displacement of and a full-load displacement of , she had a draft of . She was propelled by a pair of single-expansion marine steam engines that turned a pair of paddle wheels, one on either side of the hull amidships. Steam for the engines was provided by four boilers, which were ducted into two funnels. Her propulsion system was rated at for a top speed of . At a speed of , she could steam for . Her crew consisted of approximately four officers and seventy enlisted men. She carried an armament of four 25-pound mortars.
Service history
was laid down in 1850 and was launched later that year. The builders had originally planned to have the ship finished before Prussia's harbors on its Baltic coast froze over for the winter of 1850–1851, but delays prevented this, so the builders slowed work on to allocate workers to her sister ship . In March 1851, the ship's first commander, Schirmacher, and crew traveled to London to be trained during the vessel's sea trials. Since the Prussian Navy lacked experienced engineers, a British machinist was hired to supervise the ship's engine room crew. left London to travel to Prussia in mid-April, but the inexperienced crew caused one of the boilers to catch fire, while another sprang a leak. As she entered the Oder river, the ship ran aground owing to a mistake by the pilot. arrived thereafter and pulled her free. then steamed to the naval depot in Stettin, where she was withdrawn from service for repairs. During this period, the crew conducted further training and the ship's guns were installed. was formally commissioned on 29 July. She was named after the nix of German folklore.
After entering service, the ship embarked on training exercises, the first one of which saw Adalbert come aboard for a cruise to Danzig. By the end of August, she had been joined in Danzig Bay by the frigate . She thereafter carried Prince Karl of Prussia to Kronstadt, Russia. These early operations were marked by a number of accidents, frequently boiler fires related to the wooden stokeholds. By September, she had arrived in Stralsund, where she was decommissioned. The ship saw little activity in 1852, apart from carrying King Friedrich Wilhelm IV between Stralsund, Putbus and Danzig. She also went to Karlskrona, Sweden for an overhaul that year. She remained out of service for the duration of 1853. In May 1854, she was recommissioned and on 26 June she embarked the 1st Company, (naval battalion) from Stettin and carried them to Danzig. Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Prince Karl boarded the ship once again in July for a visit to Kronstadt that ended in September. thereafter underwent repairs in Danzig.