class cruiser class unprotected cruisers ships type built german kaiserliche_marine class comprised ships lead ship designed service germany recently acquired colonial empire built armed main battery centimeter guns steam speed knots mph spent active careers abroad usually germany african colonies pacific cruisers assisted suppression revolt german end 1890s ships overhauled decommissioned germany returned service turn century tour overseas joined forces battled boxer rebellion china decommissioned second time remained africa decommissioned training ship target ship world war vessels sold broken design ships class designed use germany recently acquired overseas colonies newly conquered territories required warships police time german kaiserliche_marine possessed collection older sailing ships suitable training purposes design prepared tenure general chief kaiserliche_marine sought new cruisers strong fighting capabilities addition traditional overseas cruiser characteristics class unprotected cruiser design built germany small warships permitted retire old sailing frigates modernized german cruiser force general characteristics ships class meters long waterline long overall beam main guns beam increased ships draft forward aft displaced metric tons long tons short tons designed long tons combat load ships hulls constructed transverse framing composed steel wood copper stem stern wood bronze ram mounted bow hull divided watertight compartments cruisers good sea boats suffered severe weather helm tended roll badly beam sea metacentric height lost little speed head sea crew officers enlisted men carried number small boats including picket boat cutter propulsion propulsion system consisted horizontal cylinder double expansion steam engines powered coal fired cylindrical water tube boilers single funnel engines drove pair bladed screw propellers wide diameter ships engines provided design speed knots mph range approximately nautical miles knots mph trials ships exceeded rated speeds reaching knots mph making knots mph speeds cruising radius fell nmi supplement steam engines ships fitted rig steering controlled single rudder fitted electricity generator rated kilowatts volts modernization armament sought overseas cruisers significant combat power ships armed relatively heavy battery ships size guns guns placed single pedestal mounts supplied rounds ammunition total range guns mounted forward aft remaining guns placed amidships gun ports guns mounted broadside gun armament rounded revolver cannon ships service history spent majority careers germany colonial stations colonies suppressed unrest showed flag ships initially called german help remained colony rebellion suppressed left recalled germany major overhaul similarly ordered return end year route sent instead finally returned germany late overhaul completed following year ships decommissioned finished april recommissioned tour abroad returned german second boer war threatened regional stability british warships began seizing german vessels suspected carrying created major diplomatic incident sent protect german shipping area outbreak boxer rebellion china proved pressing sent join nation alliance formed crush deployment china helped blockade sent landing parties ashore control unrest recalled germany second time overhauled decommissioned reactivated december response venezuela crisis sent january time arrived crisis subsided longer necessary transferred german remained briefly moved time served unit late early reassigned returned germany early decommissioned july october recommissioned use special purposes ship initially survey ship navy instead decided use replace old training ship stricken naval register target ship world war continued training ship war employed gunnery training target ships sold scrapping august broken hamburg
Schwalbe-class cruiser