SMS "Hansa" was a protected cruiser of the "Victoria Louise" class, built for the German Imperial Navy ("Kaiserliche Marine") in the 1890s, along with her sister ships , , , and . "Hansa" was laid down at the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin in 1896, launched in March 1898, and commissioned into the Navy in April 1899. The ship was armed with a battery of two 21 cm guns and eight 15 cm guns and had a top speed of .