SMS Biene
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Biene |
| Namesake | Bee |
| Operator | Imperial German Navy |
| Builder | AG Weser, Bremen |
| Laid down | 1876 |
| Launched | 2 December 1876 |
| Commissioned | 20 August 1877 |
| Decommissioned | 12 June 1884 |
| Stricken | 27 September 1910 |
| Fate | Broken up, 1921 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 46.4 m (152 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in) |
| Draft | 3.2 to 3.4 m (10 ft 6 in to 11 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Range | 700 nmi (1,300 km; 810 mi) at 7 knots (13 km/h; 8.1 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament | 1 × 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun |
| Armor | |
SMS Biene was an ironclad gunboat of the Wespe class built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ships, which were armed with a single 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun, were intended to serve as part of a coastal defense fleet. Biene saw very little active service over her lengthy existence, taking part in training exercises in 1881 and 1884. During the latter period, she was damaged in an accident, and after being repaired, was laid up for the next twenty-five years. Struck from the naval register in 1910, Biene was then used as a floating workshop for another decade before being broken up in 1921.