SMS Natter was an ironclad gunboat of the Wespe class built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s.

The ships, which were armed with a single 30.5 cm (12 in) MRK L/22 gun, were intended to serve as part of a coastal defense fleet.

The decision was finalized based on the fleet plan conceived by General Albrecht von Stosch, the new Chief of the Kaiserliche Admiralität (Imperial Admiralty), in the early 1870s.

He envisioned a fleet oriented on defense of Germany's Baltic and North Sea coasts, which would be led by the ironclad corvettes of the Sachsen class.

The Wespes were intended to beach themselves on the sandbars along the German coastline to serve as semi-mobile coastal artillery batteries.

The ship was fitted with a waterline armor belt that was 102 to 203 mm (4 to 8 in) thick, with the thickest section protecting the propulsion machinery spaces and ammunition magazine.

[3][6] Natter, which had been stationed in Wilhelmshaven, was commissioned for her first proper period of active service on 15 June 1884 to replace her sister ship Biene, which had suffered machinery breakdown and would not be available for the upcoming training exercises.

She arrived in Danzig Bay on 26 June, where she joined several of her other sisters in the Armored Gunboat Flotilla, which was serving with the Maneuver Fleet.

That year, Natter, Mücke, and their sister Scorpion exercised off the coast of East Prussia over the summer, and in July, KL Otto Philipp replaced Kirchhoff as the ship's captain.

On 16 June, she and Scorpion represented the German fleet at the opening of the Elbe–Lübeck Canal, which was officiated by Kaiser Wilhelm II.