Wolf-class gunboat

The Wolf class of steam gunboats comprised three ships: Wolf, Hyäne, and Iltis, which were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ships were ordered as part of a construction program intended to begin replacing the old Jäger-class gunboats that had been built a decade earlier, and to strengthen the fleet's force of cruising vessels as the recently founded German Empire began to expand its commercial activities, particularly in China. Unlike the older ships, the Wolf class was intended to serve abroad to protect German economic interests overseas. They also introduced iron construction to German gunboat designs. The ships were armed with a battery of two medium-caliber guns and five lighter weapons, and had a top speed of 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph).

After entering service in the late 1870s, all three ships cruised abroad extensively, frequently in the Pacific Ocean. During these voyages, they were used to protect German interests in China and the South Pacific, including the eventual colonies of German Samoa and German New Guinea. The ships also saw service in African waters, as Germany built a colonial empire in Kamerun, German South West Africa, and German East Africa. Iltis was sunk in a typhoon off China in 1896, but Wolf and Hyäne were both converted into survey ships in the late 1890s. Wolf was used to map Germany's colonies in western Africa, while Hyäne worked in German home waters. Both vessels were eventually discarded in 1919; Wolf was broken up that year, but Hyäne was converted into a merchant vessel, a role she filled until 1924, when she was accidentally destroyed by fire in Dieppe, France.