SMS Medusa (1864)

The SMS Medusa was an aviso, a small, lightly armed warship, built for the Prussian Navy (later the North German Federal Navy and then the Imperial German Navy) in the 1860s. She was laid down in 1863 at the Royal Dockyard in Danzig, launched in 1864, and commissioned in 1865.

The Medusa was intended for use as a dispatch vessel and for reconnaissance duties. She was constructed of iron and powered by a steam engine in conjunction with sails. Her armament consisted primarily of light guns suitable for repelling smaller vessels or providing covering fire.

During the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, the Medusa saw active service in the Baltic Sea, primarily patrolling the Prussian coastline and participating in minor naval actions.

Following the formation of the North German Confederation, and subsequently the German Empire, the Medusa continued in service with the German Navy. In the early 1870s, she was re-classified as a tender. She was eventually stricken from the naval register and scrapped later in the decade.