SMS Habicht was a steam gunboat of the Jäger class built for the Prussian Navy in the late 1850s and early 1860s.

The ship was ordered as part of a program to strengthen Prussia's coastal defense forces, then oriented against neighboring Denmark.

The Jäger class of gunboats 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 Reichsflotte and in the midst of rising tensions with Denmark.

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.

On 8 December 1863, the Prussian Navy ordered the fleet to mobilize, as tensions between Prussia and Denmark over the Schleswig–Holstein question rose sharply.

[6] After the start of the Second Schleswig War in February 1864, Habicht was recommissioned under the command of Leutnant zur See (LzS—Lieutenant at Sea) Paul von Reibnitz on 1 March to join III Flotilla Division.

In the aftermath of the Battle of Jasmund in mid-March, Prince Adalbert, the Prussian naval commander, ordered all five gunboat divisions to concentrate at Stralsund on 29 March to support the Prussian Army's invasion of the island of Als, but bad weather prevented the vessels from taking part in the operation.

[4] Habicht was recommissioned again on 3 April 1867 to serve as a tender for the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Sea Naval Station), based in Kiel.

She resumed tender duties in Kiel, but funding shortages forced the navy to decommission the ship from 8 May to 10 July.

Prince Adalbert came aboard Habicht for an inspection of the coasts of Holstein, Mecklenburg, and Western Pomerania from 20 to 22 September.