SMS Hertha

SMS Hertha was a member of the Arcona class of steam frigates built for the Prussian Navy in the 1860s. The class comprised five ships, and were the first major steam-powered warships ordered for the Prussian Navy. The ships were ordered as part of a major construction program to strengthen the nascent Prussian fleet, under the direction of Prince Adalbert, and were intended to provide defense against the Royal Danish Navy. Hertha was armed with a battery of twenty-eight guns, and was capable of steaming at a speed of 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph). Hertha was laid down in 1860, launched in 1864, and commissioned in 1865.
The ship was activated during the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, but saw no action during the brief conflict. Next reactivated in 1867 into what was now the North German Federal Navy, Hertha made a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea that concluded in 1868. During the voyage, her crew assisted in the recovery of the grounded French corvette Roland. Hertha next returned to the Mediterranean in 1869 for the opening ceremonies of the Suez Canal, after which she sailed on for a tour of East Asia. She was still there in mid-1870 when the Franco-Prussian War broke out. Hertha...