SMS Gazelle (1859)

SMS Gazelle was an Arcona-class screw-driven frigate of the Prussian Navy built in the 1850s. 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. Gazelle was armed with a battery of twenty-six guns, and was capable of steaming at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Gazelle was laid down in 1855, launched in 1859, and commissioned in 1862.

The ship's first major operation began in late 1862, when she was chosen to carry the ratified treaties with Japan and China that had been concluded by the Eulenburg expedition. While in the latter country in early 1864, the Second Schleswig War against Denmark had broken out, and Gazelle attacked Danish merchant shipping in Asia, capturing four prizes before the war ended. She eventually arrived home in 1865. Gazelle was mobilized during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, but saw no action during the short conflict that resulted in the creation of the Prussian-dominated North German Confederation. She cruised in the Mediterranean Sea on a training voyage for naval cadets in 1866–1867, now a warship of the North German Federal Navy.

Gazelle was not recommissioned during the Franco-Prussian War, owing to the vast superiority of the French fleet. Now in the service of the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) of unified Germany, Gazelle made a cruise to the Caribbean Sea from 1871 to 1873, sailing alone, at times with her sister ship Vineta, and ending the voyage with a larger squadron. From 1874 to 1876, Gazelle embarked on a major overseas voyage for scientific purposes, including part of Germany's observation of the 1874 transit of Venus. The scientific team aboard the ship also conducted ethnographic, zoological, and oceanographic research during the cruise. Gazelle was sent to the Mediterranean in 1877 in response to heightened tensions that eventually resulted in the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War in 1878. The ship saw limited service in the late 1870s and early 1880s, primarily as a training ship, before being struck from the naval register in 1884. She was used as a barracks ship until 1906, when she was sold to ship breakers.