Ariadne-class corvette

Ariadne went on four major overseas cruises during her career. The first, from late 1874 to late 1876, saw the ship visit Chinese waters where she protected German shipping from pirate attacks, which were a common problem in the region in the 1870s. During the second, which lasted from late 1877 to late 1879, Ariadne operated off South America and the central Pacific Ocean. While in South American waters, she visited several countries in the area to show the flag. In the central Pacific, her captain negotiated a series of trade agreements with local chiefs on various islands in Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. In 1880–1881, the ship went to South American waters to protect German interests during the War of the Pacific between Peru, Chile, and Bolivia; her operations during this period were largely confined to the cities of Ancón and Lima, Peru. In 1884–1885, she operated off West Africa, where she negotiated the acquisition of a protectorate in what is now Guinea.^[7]

The rest of Ariadne's career was uneventful. After returning to Germany in 1885, Ariadne was reassigned as a training ship for apprentice seamen, a role she performed for the next five years. During this period, she went on training cruises to the Caribbean Sea and visited numerous foreign ports, conducted training in the Baltic Sea, and participated in fleet exercises in German waters. Ariadne also participated in ceremonial activities, including the beginning of construction of the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal in 1887 and a naval review held during a visit from an Austro-Hungarian squadron in 1890. She was decommissioned in September 1890, stricken from the naval register in April 1891, and sold to ship breakers in October.^[8]

Luise went on two major overseas cruises early in her career, both to East Asian waters. The first lasted from 1875 and 1877; during the cruise, she visited Chinese ports to protect German interests and show the flag. She also conducted a hydrographic survey of the Yangtze river, and was damaged in an accidental collision with a British ironclad warship in Japan. The second lasted from 1878 to 1880 and saw similar activities, though during her time in the East Asia Squadron, she served as its flagship. During this deployment, she conducted deep-ocean temperature and salinity experiments and protected German nationals in Shanghai during unrest in the area. While on the way home, she attempted to negotiate a dispute between Germany and Madagascar, but a severe storm forced her to leave before a settlement could be reached in order to avoid being damaged.^[9]

In 1881, after returning to Germany, Luise was converted into a training ship, and she served in this capacity for most of the rest of her career. She made several overseas cruises, visiting the Americas twice in 1881–1882 and 1885; during these cruises, she visited numerous ports in North, Central, and South America. In 1886, she participated in the British fleet review, where she represented Germany. The ship carried replacement crews to the gunboats stationed in German West Africa in 1886 and 1887. Luise was hulked in 1892 and used as a torpedo test ship in 1894–1896, before being stricken from the naval register in December 1896. She was sold for scrap the following year and broken up in Hamburg.^[10]

Freya went on two major overseas cruises in the course of her fairly uneventful career. The first was from 1877 to 1879, and the second followed immediately thereafter from 1879 to 1881. On the first cruise, she went to the eastern Mediterranean Sea and toured various ports in Greece and the Ottoman Empire, and then proceeded to China as part of the East Asia Squadron. On the way back to Germany, she had a boiler explosion that killed four crewmen and badly burned several more. The second voyage began with a deployment to Chilean waters to protect German interests during the War of the Pacific, after which she returned to Chinese waters. There, she conducted hydrographic surveys and attempted to suppress piracy; on the return to Germany her captain died from typhoid fever.^[11]

After returning to Germany in 1881, she was converted into a training ship and returned to service in that capacity in 1883. She went on only one major training cruise, which lasted from mid-1883 to late 1884. During the voyage she toured ports in the Americas and helped to protect civilians during a period of civil unrest in Haiti in late 1883. She was thereafter decommissioned and remained out of service for the rest of her existence, seeing no further use. She was stricken from the naval register in 1896 and sold to ship breakers the following year.^[12]

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