SMS Prinz Adalbert was a steam corvette of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), the second and final member of the Leipzig class.

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the newly formed Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) began an expansion program to strengthen the fleet.

The naval command determined that modern steam corvettes were necessary for scouting purposes, as well as overseas cruising duties to protect German interests abroad.

She was then moved to Kiel for final fitting-out, which included the installation of the four torpedo tubes, making Sedan the first large German warship to be equipped with them.

[2][3][4] Prinz Adalbert remained out of service in 1878 owing to a shortage of officers and crewmen, since the available men had been assigned to the Armored Squadron, which was on a training cruise.

Prinz Adalbert arrived in Japan in May 1879, and MacLean, having the earliest date of rank of the captains in East Asia, became the squadron commander.

Prinz Adalbert remained in Japanese waters into early 1880, and visited a number of cities, include Kobe, Nagasaki, and Yokohama.

While in Hong Kong, MacLean received word that the steam frigate Vineta had arrived in Japan to replace Prinz Adalbert, though at the time, the latter's crew was battling a severe gastrointestinal disease.

It was hoped that the fresh air of the high seas would help the crew return to health, so Prinz Adalbert began the voyage back to Germany.

The ship finally arrived in the Kieler Förde on 29 September 1880, where she was greeted by Kaiser Wilhelm I, Prince Heinrich's grandfather, and Admiral Albrecht von Stosch, the chief of the Admiralität.

Prinz Adalbert then steamed to Shanghai, where she rendezvoused with the squadron flagship, the corvette Stosch, and its commander, KzS Carl Paschen.

In mid-May, a fever epidemic broke out among the crews of the German ships, prompting Paschen to take the vessels to Japan to receive treatment, but in July, Prinz Adalbert and Stosch had to return to Chinese waters owing to increase in tensions that led to the Sino-French War the following month.

The French squadron under Vice Admiral Amédée Courbet was preparing to attack the Chinese fleet there, and Prinz Adalbert joined warships from Britain and the United States to protect Europeans and Americans in the city.

In the ensuing Battle of Fuzhou, the French rapidly defeated the Chinese forces, allowing Prinz Adalbert to return to Shanghai in early September.

In late November, Prinz Adalbert met with Stosch in Freetown; Paschen returned to his flagship, and the two ships steamed to Cape Verde to join the Training Squadron, which had stopped there during a dispute between Germany and Spain over the Caroline Islands.

After Pope Leo XIII intervened to settle the dispute, Prinz Adalbert could finally resume the voyage back to Germany, where she arrived in Wilhelmshaven on 22 December.

The navy decided to convert the vessel into a training ship, and she was reactivated for that role on 8 April 1886 with a crew of naval cadets and four-year volunteers aboard.

The ships were in Saint Thomas at the start of 1887, and on the way back to Germany, Prinz Adalbert collided with the Hamburg-flagged schooner Ellenholt, though she was not seriously damaged in the accident.

The winter training cruise began on 1 October; the ships were to have gone into the Mediterranean Sea, but an outbreak of cholera in Italy led to the trip being limited to Cape Verde and the Canary Islands.

[9] Prinz Adalbert was worn out from her long overseas deployments by 1888, and after just ten years in active service, she was retired from training duties on 20 September.