 SMS Sperber ( " His Majesty 's Ship Sperber — Sparrowhawk " ) was an unprotected cruiser built for the German Kaiserliche Marine ( Imperial Navy ) , the second member of the Schwalbe class . She had one sister ship , Schwalbe . Sperber was built at the Kaiserliche Werft ( Imperial Dockyard ) in Danzig ; her keel was laid down in September 1887 and her completed hull was launched in August 1888 . She was commissioned for service in April 1889 . Designed for colonial service , Sperber was armed with a main battery of eight 10 @.@ 5 @-@ centimeter ( 4 @.@ 1 in ) guns and had a cruising radius of over 3 @,@ 000 nautical miles ( 5 @,@ 600 km ; 3 @,@ 500 mi ) ; she also had an auxiliary sailing rig to supplement her steam engines . 
