SMS Nymphe was the third member of the ten-ship Gazelle class of light cruisers that were built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Built to be able to serve with the main German fleet and as a colonial cruiser, she was armed with a battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and a top speed of 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph).

During this period, she also frequently escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II during cruises aboard his yacht, Hohenzollern to visit foreign countries.

She was decommissioned in 1909 and remained out of service until August 1914, when World War I led to her reactivation to support coastal defense forces in the mouth of the Elbe river through late 1915.

Nymphe was one of the six cruisers Germany was allowed to keep in service by the Treaty of Versailles, and she was modernized in the early 1920s before being recommissioned in 1924.

Following the construction of the unprotected cruisers of the Bussard class and the aviso Hela for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the Construction Department of the Reichsmarineamt (Imperial Navy Office) prepared a design for a new small cruiser that combined the best attributes of both types of vessels.

Nymphe, the third member of the class, dispensed with the wood and copper sheathing of the hull that the first two vessels had carried.

[3] Her propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines manufactured by Germaniawerft, driving a pair of screw propellers.

Nymphe carried 500 t (490 long tons) of coal, which gave her a range of 3,570 nautical miles (6,610 km; 4,110 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).

Nymphe arrived back in Swinemünde on 11 August and she then joined the fleet for the annual maneuvers held later that month and into September.

As in the previous year, she spent the winter with a reduced crew undergoing repairs, now under KK Wilhelm Sthamer's command.

Nymphe took part in that year's fleet maneuvers as well, and in September, KK Leberecht Maass became the ship's captain.

Nymphe operated with the training vessels of the German fleet, now organized as the School and Testing Ships Unit, in April and May 1906.

[9] Following the start of World War I in July 1914, Nymphe was recommissioned on 8 August to serve as the flagship of the harbor flotilla that guarded the mouth of the Elbe.

Whether she received her original battery of ten 10.5 cm guns or retained her gunnery training ship armament is not known.

[4][10] Nymphe was among the six light cruisers that Germany was permitted to retain under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles that ended the war.

She was recommissioned on 30 November 1924 for sea trials, with KzS Ernst Bindseil as her first commander in the new Reichsmarine (Navy of the Realm).

She was then assigned to serve as the flagship of light Naval Forces of the Baltic Sea on 18 December, under the command of Konteradmiral (KAdm—Rear Admiral) Iwan Oldekop.

From 4 to 5 September, she visited Skagen, Denmark, after which FK Fritz Conrad replaced Kleine as the ship's captain.

The ship made more foreign visits that year, and while in the Bay of Biscay, she was damaged in severe weather that saw wind strength in the range of 10–12 on the Beaufort scale.

Following the fleet's return to Germany, it conducted another set of training exercises, and in September, FK Wolf von Trotha relieved Conrad, serving as the ship's last commander.

On 15 October, KAdm Walter Gladisch replaced Loewenfeld, though Nymphe remained the flagship for just six months, being decommissioned on 16 April 1929 in Kiel; her role was taken by the new light cruiser Königsberg.