SMS Greif (1886)

By the 1880s, the development of torpedoes and torpedo boats had produced a weapons system that could effectively challenge powerful ironclad warships. This led to the development in France of the Jeune École doctrine that emphasized the use of cheap torpedo boats and cruisers instead of expensive ironclads. As other navies, including Germany's, began to adopt the strategy, German planners saw the need for small warships capable of defending the fleet against attacking torpedo boats. The naval command called for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), which would allow the vessel to also operate as a scout for the fleet. To keep weight limited, the armament was to consist of a pair of 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns.[1][2] The ship proved to be a disappointment in service and she spent little time as a front-line combat unit.[3]

Greif early in her career

The keel for Greif was laid down in October 1885 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel. She was launched on 29 July 1886 and her christening was performed by Vizeadmiral (VAdm—Vice Admiral) Wilhelm von Wickede, the commander of the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Sea Naval Station). After completing fitting-out, she was commissioned for sea trials on 9 July 1887. Initial testing continued until 15 September and she was decommissioned in Kiel on 17 October. She remained out of service until 19 March 1889, when she was recommissioned in Wilhelmshaven for fishery protection patrols in the North Sea. She operated primarily off the East Frisian Islands during this period, though her duties to protect German territorial waters were interrupted from mid-March to mid-April to escort the screw corvette Alexandrine, which had Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard. Alexandrine was on her way to an overseas deployment, and Wilhelm II also wanted to greet the training squadron corvettes, which were returning from their cruise in the Mediterranean Sea. Greif again accompanied the Kaiser, this time aboard his yacht Hohenzollern on a cruise from 24 June to 10 August that saw the ships steam as far north as Nordkapp, Norway and then to Cowes, Britain. After returning to Germany, Greif served as a scout during fleet training exercises until 30 August. She was then decommissioned in Kiel on 30 September.[1]

On 10 October 1890, the navy established the Torpedo Trials Command to further develop the torpedo arm of the fleet; this work had previously been carried out by the Torpedo Workshop in Friedrichsort. Greif was attached to the command on 1 November to assist with testing operations in Kiel Bay. This work was interrupted on 2 April 1891 when Greif embarked Wilhelm II to greet the screw corvette Carola, then returning from German East Africa, where the Abushiri revolt had recently been suppressed. On 10 June, Greif went into the dry dock at the Kaiserliche Werft in Kiel for modernization, which included the replacement of her main battery. Work was completed on 21 August, followed by sea trials in Danzig Bay through November. The year 1892 passed uneventfully, with the only event of note being Greif's participation in the fleet training maneuvers from 30 August to 5 September.[1]

Greif underwent a thorough overhaul from 17 April 1893 to 2 October, thereafter returning to service with the Torpedo Trials Command. This duty ended on 31 October 1894 when she was decommissioned. She remained out of service until 5 May 1897, when she was recommissioned for service with the fleet as a scout and wireless support ship. She was assigned to II Division, I Squadron to support its flagship König Wilhelm. As part of the unit, she took part in training exercises in the North Sea and later the Baltic, followed by a cruise in company with Wilhelm II and Kaiserin Augusta Victoria to Kronstadt, Russia in August. Upon the squadron's return to German waters later that month, the ships took part in the annual fleet maneuvers. Following their conclusion, Greif embarked Prince Heinrich of Prussia on 22 September; the torpedo boat S26 had sunk in a severe storm in the mouth of the Elbe that day. Aboard had been Duke Friedrich Wilhelm zu Mecklenburg and Heinrich had wanted to take part in the search and salvage effort.[8]

Lithograph of Greif (left), Meteor (center), and Jagd (right) by Willy Stöwer

In December, Greif was assigned to I Division and she joined the battleships on a winter cruise to Christiana, Norway. While the divisional flagship, Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, was in dock for repairs, Greif served in her place from 29 December to 20 February 1898 with VAdm August von Thomsen aboard. Two days later, Grief herself went into dock for periodic maintenance, particularly to her boilers, which were badly worn out. Repairs were completed by 13 May, at which point she returned to I Squadron, joining the ships in Kirkwall, Scotland on 19 May. At the end of the month, she was reassigned to II Division, thereafter participating in the summer and autumn maneuvers that took place in the North and Baltic Seas. During the latter exercises, Greif collided with the torpedo boat S71 on 23 August, though neither vessel was seriously damaged. She operated as part of I Scouting Group, which also included the aviso Hela and the special ship Pelikan. In the first half of December, Greif and the rest of II Division visited Swedish ports; she also served as the division flagship during this period, until 17 December.[9]

Greif was withdrawn from front-line service on 1 April 1899, thereafter taking part in experiments with wireless equipment. She was then assigned to the Naval Artillery Inspectorate as a training ship and was based in the Kieler Förde. She rejoined the fleet to take part in the annual maneuvers from early August to 13 September. The ship then went into dry dock for another overhaul before returning to training duties. On 8 July 1900, she joined Hohenzollern for a cruise to Molde, Norway, and Esbjerg, Denmark, arriving back in Bremerhaven, Germany on 27 July. She again served as a fleet scout during the maneuvers in August and September that concluded in Swinemünde on 15 September. She was decommissioned for the last time on 22 September and in 1901, underwent another thorough overhaul that included the installation of new boilers. She was transferred to the list of special ships on 21 June 1911, and on 25 October 1912, was struck from the naval register. During World War I, she was hulked on 25 October 1915 and used as a training ship for engine room crews; beginning in 1917, she was employed as a mine storage hulk, based in Kiel-Heikendorf. She was sold to ship breakers in Hamburg in 1921.[4][9]

• Gardiner, Robert, ed. (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
• Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
• Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien: ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart (Band 4) [The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present (Vol. 4)] (in German). Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0382-1.
• Sondhaus, Lawrence (1997). Preparing for Weltpolitik: German Sea Power Before the Tirpitz Era. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-745-7.