SMS Arcona (1858)

SMS Arcona was the lead ship of the Arcona class of steam frigates built for the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s and early 1860s. The class comprised five ships, and were the first major steam-powered warships ordered for the Prussian Navy. The ships were ordered as part of a major construction program to strengthen the nascent Prussian fleet, under the direction of Prince Adalbert, and were intended to provide defense against the Royal Danish Navy. Arcona was armed with a battery of twenty-six guns, and was capable of steaming at a speed of 12.4 knots (23.0 km/h; 14.3 mph). Arona was laid down in 1855, launched in 1858, and commissioned in 1859.

Arcona spent the first two years of her career leading the Eulenburg expedition as the squadron flagship; the mission took the ship to East Asia to support diplomatic efforts with the Kingdom of Siam, Qing China, and Tokugawa Japan. Arcona next saw service during the Second Schleswig War in 1864, once again serving as the flagship of a squadron led by Eduard von Jachmann, which briefly engaged the Danish Navy in the Battle of Jasmund in March. She saw no action during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, as the Austrian Navy remained in the Adriatic Sea during the short conflict. The ship passed into the service of the North German Federal Navy, which was created by the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation after their victory in the war with Austria.

The ship embarked on another major overseas cruise in 1869, this time to the eastern Mediterranean Sea for the opening ceremonies of the Suez Canal, followed by a cruise in the Caribbean Sea. She was still there when the Franco-Prussian War broke out in July 1870, and she soon stopped in the neutral Azores, where she remained safe from blockading French warships; she sailed to Portugal in November, where the French pursued and trapped her until the end of the war in January 1871. Arcona passed into the service of a third German navy, the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) of the new German Empire. She made another major overseas voyage from 1873 to 1875, visiting East Asia and North and South America. The ship was used for limited training duties in the late 1870s and early 1880s, but her poor condition led to her being struck from the naval register in 1884. Briefly used as a target ship, she was broken up soon thereafter.