 The first unprotected cruisers of the German "Kaiserliche Marine" (Imperial Navy), the "Schwalbe"-class cruisers, were designed in 1886 to replace the motley collection of old sailing ships that Germany then possessed.They were intended to police Germany's recently acquired colonial empire.Leo von Caprivi, then the Chief of the "Kaiserliche Marine", requested cruisers that had the range to operate abroad, but which also possessed sufficient combat power to be useful in time of war; the old sailing ships so poorly armed that they were ineffective as combat ships.