SMS Seeadler


 * This page is about the long range cruiser. For the World War I commerce raider, see SMS Seeadler (1878).

SMS Seeadler ("Sea Eagle") was a German cruiser, part of a new breed of warships created by the new Imperial Navy. To protect the Empire's growing overseas possessions and colonies, the navy needed ships seaworthy enough to venture out into far off oceans and have the coal supply to reach far off destinations. The result was the new class of small cruisers of the Bussard class, rated Class IV cruisers.

Design
Seeadler was 83.9 m long overall and had a beam of 12.7 m and a draft of 4.42 m forward. She displaced 1864 MT at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two horizontal 3-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines powered by four coal-fired cylindrical boilers. These provided a top speed of 15.5 kn and a range of approximately 2950 nmi at 9 kn. She had a crew of 9 officers and 152 enlisted men.

The ship was armed with eight 10.5 cm SK L/35 quick-firing (QF) guns in single pedestal mounts, supplied with 800 rounds of ammunition in total. They had a range of 10800 m. Two guns were placed side by side forward, two on each broadside, and two side by side aft. The gun armament was rounded out by five revolver cannon. She was also equipped with two 35 cm torpedo tubes with five torpedoes, both of which were mounted on the deck.

Service history


In April 1893, Seeadler and the protected cruiser SMS Kaiserin Augusta conducted a good-will visit to the United States, a belated celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus's first voyage across the Atlantic. Ships joined delegations from nine other navies, including the US Navy, for a major celebration in New York harbor that was reviewed by Grover Cleveland, the President of the United States.

Following the outbreak of the Boxer Rebellion in Qing China, Seeadler was sent from the Australian Station to assist in the Western suppression of the Boxers. During the campaign, she operated off the Taku Forts. During Seeadler's operations in China, her crew suffered only one casualty from enemy action.

As of 1904, Seeadler remained assigned to the Australian Station, along with her sister ship SMS Condor and the survey vessel Möwe.

As of 1908, Seeadler had been assigned to German East Africa, alongside another of her sister ships, SMS Bussard.