Increased demands on the fleet to protect German overseas economic interests in the wake of the Franco-Prussian War necessitated the construction of new corvettes to shoulder the burden. In addition, by that time the vessels that had been acquired under the initial fleet plans had become worn out, making the acquisition of new vessels even more important. The Bismarck-class corvettes were based on the Leipzig design, but they were significantly scaled down. They had a displacement of more than a thousand tons less than the earlier vessels, carrying a lighter armament and less powerful engines. Since steam engines were still not reliable enough to be the only source of motive power, full ship rigs were retained.
