"Hansa" was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward. As designed, she displaced , and at full load, her displacement rose to . Her propulsion system consisted of three vertical 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single screw propeller, with steam provided by eighteen coal-fired Belleville boilers. Her engines were rated for , and provided a top speed of . The ship had a range of approximately at . She had a crew of 31 officers and 446 enlisted men.