SMS Falke ("His Majesty's Ship Falke—Falcon")[a] was an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class, built for the Imperial German Navy.

In 1901, Falke was transferred to the American Station, and the following year she took part in the Venezuela Crisis of 1902–03, during which she helped enforce an Anglo-German blockade of the Venezuelan coast.

Through the 1870s and early 1880s, Germany built two types of cruising vessels: small, fast avisos suitable for service as fleet scouts and larger, long-ranged screw corvettes capable of patrolling the German colonial empire.

General Leo von Caprivi, the Chief of the Imperial Admiralty, sought to modernize Germany's cruiser force.

[3] The ship was armed with a main battery of eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/35 quick-firing guns in single pedestal mounts, supplied with 800 rounds of ammunition in total.

She was launched on 4 April 1891; at the ceremony, Prince Heinrich gave a speech and his wife, Princess Irene, christened the ship.

[5][6] Falke was recommissioned on 14 August 1892 in order to participate in the annual fleet training maneuvers that began that month and continued into September.

[6][7] Falke was transferred to Germany's West African colonies in western Africa after the conclusion of the maneuvers, departing Kiel on 16 October to replace the gunboat Habicht.

On 31 December, Falke returned to Duala, the main German port in Kamerun, where she joined the second warship stationed in the colony, the gunboat Hyäne.

[6] The borders of German South-West Africa had been settled via treaties with Portugal (1886) and Britain (1890), but the coast line had not been surveyed in detail.

The ship's crew received a period of rest from 14 to 16 March, after which time Falke steamed back to Kamerun, stopping in several ports along the way and arriving in Duala on 29 April.

She arrived in Monrovia on 9 June, and temporarily took Joseph James Cheeseman, the President of Liberia, aboard to protect him from the rebels.

Falke was sent to Stephansort [de] (south of modern Madang) on 24 June to apprehend the murderers; she transported a police detachment from the capital at Herbertshöhe to Ali Island and contributed a landing party from her crew.

After the conclusion of the cruise, Falke returned to Sydney, where her new commander, Korvettenkapitän (Corvette Captain) Victor Schönfelder had arrived; he formally took control of the ship on 1 September.

Four weeks later, Bussard departed the central Pacific, bound for Germany; Falke was now alone in the region, despite the rising international tensions concerning a succession crisis in Samoa.

Eventually, the Second Samoan Civil War was resolved by splitting the islands into German and American colonies, while Britain received concessions elsewhere.

Falke then began the journey back to Germany on 1 July, stopping in Sydney, Batavia, Colombo, Mahé, and Lisbon.

Falke visited several ports in the area before joining the training ships Moltke and Stein and the light cruiser Gazelle.

Falke continued upriver, her voyage hampered by a lack of accurate maps and insufficiently knowledgeable river pilots.

[13] On 8 May, Falke arrived in Port of Spain in Trinidad before being ordered to the coast of Venezuela to safeguard German interests during a period of unrest there.

While en route, she stopped in Fort-de-France, Martinique to pick up a load of food and medical supplies for the people living around Mont Pelee, which had recently erupted.

In December, Falke ran aground while leaving Willemstad; the training ship Stosch pulled her free only with great difficulty.

On 16 December, the East American Cruiser Division was formally established by the German Navy, led by the flagship Vineta.

[16] The Germans operated in concert with the British Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina; they sought to compel the Venezuelan government to make reparations for grievances related to internal conflicts in the over the previous decade.

[19] In January 1904, the ship visited New Orleans with the rest of the American Squadron, which at that time included Vineta, Gazelle, and the gunboat Panther.

She continued as far north as Peru by the end of 1904 and stopped in several Argentinian and Chilean ports along the way, including Valparaiso on 20 December.

Starting on 6 January 1905, Falke resumed her voyage up the Pacific coast of the Americas, stopping in Peru, Colombia, and several Central American countries.