SMS Hay was a small gunboat built by the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the early 1880s.

By the late 1870s, the gunnery school for the Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) consisted of badly worn-out ships.

Her propulsion system produced a top speed of 9.3 knots (17.2 km/h; 10.7 mph) at 202 metric horsepower (199 ihp).

[3] The ship was armed with a main battery of four 8.7 cm (3.4 in) K L/24 built-up guns in pivot mounts and four 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon.

[3][4] The keel for Hay was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Shipyard) in Danzig in early 1881.

She returned to service on 3 April 1883 for shooting practice, and at that time her captain was Leutnant zur See (LzS—Lieutenant at Sea) Ernst Gülich.

The 1885 training program, which lasted from 25 March to 30 November, saw Hay participate in the annual, large-scale fleet maneuvers.

During the exercises, she served as part of a coastal defense fleet guarding Wilhelmshaven against a simulated naval attack.

On 4 November, Hay returned to service, and she would remain in continuous commission for the next seventeen years.

Beginning in 1892, Hay began to also serve as a fishery protection ship in the North Sea.

Beginning in 1896, the torpedo vessel Ulan joined Hay as a second tender for the gunnery school.

The next several years passed quietly for Hay, which was occupied with routine shooting practice and patrols through the fishing grounds of the North Sea.

Other notable commanders, all leutnant zur see, during this period included William Michaelis from 1897 to 1898 and Max Looff from 1898 to 1899.