G137 was built by the Germaniawerft shipyard at Kiel in 1906–1907, being launched on 24 January 1907 and entering service in July that year.

G137 was used for second-line tasks during the First World War, including training and as a tender to U-boat flotillas.

The S90 class consisted of 48 torpedo boats, built between 1898 and 1907 by Schichau and Germaniawerft for the Imperial German Navy.

They were larger than previous German torpedo boats, allowing them to work effectively with the High Seas Fleet in the North Sea, while also being large enough to act as flotilla leader when necessary, thus eliminating the need for separate larger division boats.

[2][3] As part of the fiscal year 1905 construction programme for the Imperial German Navy, six large torpedo boats (Große Torpedoboote) (G132–G137) were ordered from Germaniawerft, with five being powered by conventional reciprocating steam engines and the last, G137, powered by steam turbines.

[21][22] G137 was renamed T137 on 27 September 1916,[16] in order to free her number for new construction, in this case the 1916 Mobilisation type torpedo boat S137.

[21][22] After the end of the war, T137 was initially retained by the Weimar Republic's navy, the Reichsmarine, but was struck from the Naval lists on 22 March 1921.