SMS Stosch

SMS Stosch was a Bismarck-class corvette built for the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) in the late 1870s. The ship was named for Admiral Albrecht von Stosch, the first chief of staff (from 1872 to 1883) of the newly created Imperial Navy. She was the third member of the class, which included five other vessels. The Bismarck-class corvettes were ordered as part of a major naval construction program in the early 1870s, and she was designed to serve as a fleet scout and on extended tours in Germany's colonial empire. Stosch was laid down in November 1875, launched in October 1876, and was commissioned into the fleet in June 1879. She was armed with a battery of ten 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a full ship rig to supplement her steam engine on long cruises abroad.
Stosch embarked on a major overseas cruise in the 1880s, first as the flagship of the East Asia Squadron from 1881 to 1885. In early 1885, she was transferred to the East Africa Squadron, where she also served as the flagship, though this stint lasted just six months, when she was transferred again, briefly, to the West African Squadron, before returning to Germany in late 1885. During these four years abroad, she was...