SMS Möwe (Seagull) was the second member of the Habicht class of gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1870s.

Worn out and unable to make the voyage back to Germany by 1905, she instead sailed to the German naval base in Qingdao, China, where she was hulked.

To replace these older vessels, the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) ordered the six Carola-class corvettes and three Habicht-class gunboats.

Work on the ship was completed at Danzig the following year, and she was commissioned on 31 May 1880 to be moved to Kiel, under the command of Korvettenkapitän (KK—Corvette Captain) Franz von Kyckbusch.

The screw corvette Carola arrived in Apia on 18 April to replace Möwe as the station ship there, allowing her to return home.

Concerns for the safety of foreigners in the country prompted the collection of warships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and Möwe joined the German contingent, which also included the corvette Gneisenau, Habicht, and the gunboat Cyclop.

During this period, she sailed to Ismailia in the canal and embarked around 150 German, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and French nationals and evacuated them to Port Said.

The crew's experience during the voyage in the south Pacific had demonstrated that the 15 cm gun was unnecessary, and that lighter, faster-firing weapons were preferable.

Beginning in 1880, German trading companies had moved operations from British West Africa to the so-called Slave Coast, as these areas were not yet subjected to European colonial rule and customs duties were more favorable.

The German intrusion led to violent reactions from the local residents, and encouraged power struggles between rival leaders.

In addition, Hoffmann was ordered to support the activities of Gustav Nachtigal, a renowned explorer of Africa, who had been designated as the Imperial Commissioner for Germany's colonial empire.

An outbreak of fever forced Möwe to leave earlier than planned, and she sailed on to Freetown in British Sierra Leone and then Monrovia, Liberia, before reaching the Gulf of Guinea.

German trading companies operating in the area had requested that Germany formally colonize the country, and Chancellor Otto von Bismarck eventually approved the proposal.

Buchner became the Imperial Commissioner for the colony of Kamerun, which was to initially comprise the coastal area along the Bay of Biafra, between the Niger River delta and Gabon.

Möwe toured the rea, raising the German flag in several towns, including Bimbia, Malimba, Kribi, Klein Batanga, and Benito.

There, Nachtigal met with British colonial authorities for negotiations of the borders of the newly created German South West Africa.

The German Admiralty organized the West African Squadron, led by the screw corvette Bismarck and commanded by Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Eduard Knorr.

[16] Möwe arrived off Zanzibar on 17 August to join the cruiser squadron being assembled there, initially under the command of Kommodore Carl Paschen.

Tensions in the area soon calmed, and on 9 January 1886, Knorr took the bulk of the squadron to the South Pacific, leaving b behind only Möwe and Hyäne to patrol the colony.

Later that year, Möwe sailed to Bombay, British India, for an overhaul and to give her crew time to recover from the malaria that afflicted many of the men.

[17] In the second half of January 1887, Möwe examined the coastline from Kismayo in southern Somalia to Tanga in German East Africa; she remained at the latter port until early March.

A planned assault on Kilwa Kivinje on 21 September was cancelled after the Germans realized that the number of rebels significantly outnumbered Möwe's landing party.

The Germans thereafter began a blockade of the coast; Möwe was responsible for the section between Dar es Salaam and Mafia Island.

On 11 and 12 January 1889, German forces in Dar es Salaam, which included a landing party from Möwe, came under heavy attack from the rebels.

In the course of the fighting in German East Africa, the ship's crew had captured a pair of field guns from the rebel forces, and these were handed over to the Marinestation der Ostsee (Baltic Sea Naval Station).

The navy accordingly decided to convert Möwe into a survey ship; two of her guns were removed and her sailing rig was altered to incorporate topsails.

The ship recommissioned on 1 November 1890; ten days later, she sailed from Germany, bound once again for the coast of German East Africa.

During mapping work near Berlinhafen (near modern Aitape) on 12 April on the northern coast of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, the survey detachment was attacked by locals, and several were injured.

In 1900, the ship embarked Rudolf von Bennigsen, the colonial governor, and Robert Koch, a scientist conducting research on malaria in the South Pacific, and took them on a cruise from 28 June to 10 July that included visits to French-controlled islands in the region.

It was not feasible for Möwe to make the voyage back to Germany, so she departed Matupi Harbor on 14 August, bound for the German naval base at Qingdao, China.