SMS Schwalbe (1860)
SMS Schwalbe was a steam gunboat of the  built for the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s and early 1860s.

Design

The s came about as a result of a program to strengthen the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s in the aftermath of the dissolution of the  and in the midst of rising tensions with Denmark. In 1859, Prince Regent Wilhelm approved a construction program for some fifty-two gunboats to be built over the next fifteen years, which began with the fifteen vessels of the Jäger class.

Schwalbe was  long overall, with a beam of  and a draft of . She displaced  normally and  at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 2 officers and 38 enlisted men. She was powered by a pair of marine steam engines that drove one 3-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by four coal-fired trunk boilers, which gave her a top speed of  at . As built, she was equipped with a three-masted schooner rig. The ship was armed with a battery of one rifled 24-pounder muzzle-loading gun and two rifled 12-pounder muzzle-loading guns.

Service history
Schwalbe was built at the A. G. Nüscke shipyard in Grabow. Her keel was laid down in 1859 and she was launched on 14 February 1860, and was named for the swallow. After completion, she was laid up on the island of Dänholm near Stralsund. While out of service, her copper sheathing was removed from her hull so ventilation holes could be cut into the outer planking. Her entire propulsion system, including the masts and the funnel, was removed and a roof was erected over the hull to keep the elements out. She remained out of service until the start of the Second Schleswig War in February 1864. She was commissioned on 1 March, under the command of  Karl August Deinhard, and assigned to II Flotilla Division. She saw no action during the short war, and she was placed back in reserve in October. 

Schwalbe was recommissioned again on 27 July 1870 following the start of the Franco-Prussian War, and three days later she was moved to the North Sea via the Eider Canal. She again saw no combat, only carrying out defensive patrols to guard the entrance to Jade Bight, and was decommissioned at Geestemünde on 5 October. During an inspection at the  (Imperial Shipyard) in Kiel in 1872, Schwalbe was found to be in poor condition, and she was accordingly struck from the naval register on 19 March. She was used for several years as a barge in Kiel under the name  Nr. 1 (Mine Barge No. 1), but the date of her breaking up are not recorded.

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Category:Jäger-class gunboats
Category:1860 ships