SMS Nymphe (1863)

Painting of the Battle of Jasmund by Willy Stöwer, depicting the Prussian squadron; Nymphe is at left, astern of Arcona
History
Name	Nymphe
Namesake	Nymph
Builder	Königliche Werft, Danzig
Laid down	25 January 1862
Launched	15 April 1863
Commissioned	20 February 1864
Stricken	21 July 1887
Fate	Broken up, 1891
General characteristics
Class and type	Nymphe-class corvette
Displacement	Full load: 1,202 t (1,183 long tons)
Length	64.9 m (212 ft 11 in) (loa)
Beam	10.2 m (33 ft 6 in)
Draft	3.92 m (12 ft 10 in)
Installed power	4 × fire-tube boilers 800 PS (790 ihp)
Propulsion	1 × marine steam engine 1 × Screw propeller
Sail plan	Full ship rig
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Range	1,250 nmi (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Crew	14 officers 176 sailors
Armament	10 × 36-pounder guns 6 × 12-pounder guns

SMS Nymphe was the lead ship of the Nymphe class of steam corvettes, the first ship of that type to be built for the Prussian Navy. She had one sister ship, Medusa, and the vessels were wooden-hulled ships armed with a battery of sixteen guns. She was ordered as part of a naval expansion program to counter the Danish Navy over the disputed ownership of Schleswig and Holstein. Nymphe was laid down in January 1862, was launched in April 1863, and was completed in October that year.

Nymphe saw action during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark in 1864 at the Battle of Jasmund. She was heavily engaged by a Danish frigate in the battle; she received around 70 hits, mostly to her rigging, though she was not seriously damaged. The ship, which had been on a cruise in the Mediterranean Sea, was in the process of being recalled to Germany during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and as a result, saw no action during the conflict. During the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, a French squadron of ironclads had anchored off Danzig, and Nymphe launched a surprise night attack on the idle vessels, though she inflicted no serious damage on the armored French ships. Her attack nevertheless convinced the French admiral that his heavy ships were not useful in a close blockade of German ports, and so they left.

In 1871, Nymphe embarked on a major overseas deployment to the Pacific Ocean and East Asia, where her captain conducted negotiations with various governments and she visited numerous cities. She remained abroad until mid-1874, after which she was converted into a training ship for apprentice seamen. She served in that capacity for the next decade, during which she conducted training cruises, usually to the Americas, though in 1882 she toured the Mediterranean Sea. In poor condition and in need of a complete reconstruction by 1885, she was stricken from the naval register in July 1887 and hulked. Nymphe was ultimately sold in 1891 and broken up in Hamburg.