SMS Wolf was the lead ship of the Wolf class of steam gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ship was ordered as part of a construction program intended to begin replacing the old Jäger-class gunboats that had been built a decade earlier. Unlike the older ships, Wolf was intended to serve abroad to protect German economic interests overseas. The ship was armed with a battery of two medium-caliber guns and five lighter weapons, and had a top speed of 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph).

Wolf spent nearly her entire career in active service on foreign stations over the course of three cruises abroad; she returned to Germany only for overhauls and modifications. The first voyage, from 1878 to 1884, took the ship to East Asia, primarily off the coast of China. On the way home, she was involved in the establishment of the colony of German South West Africa. The next cruise, which lasted from 1886 to 1895, initially returned to East Asian waters, but she spent most of her time abroad in the South Pacific. In 1889, she carried the exiled King of Samoa, Malietoa Laupepa, back to the islands, where he was reinstated as king. In 1891, she rescued survivors from the wrecked Ottoman frigate Ertuğrul.

After returning to Germany in 1895, Wolf was converted into a survey ship, and in this capacity, she was sent to map Germany's colonies in Africa. She operated off the coast of Kamerun and German South West Africa until 1905. Throughout this period, the ship was also used for other tasks, including assisting the colonial Schutztruppe suppress unrest. The ship was struck from the naval register in 1906, converted into a repair ship, and used in that capacity through World War I. In the post-war draw-down of German naval strength in 1919, she was sold to ship breakers and broken up for scrap.

German economic activity in Qing China in the 1870s faced significant threats from piracy and resistance from local officials, so the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) stationed warships in East Asia to protect its trade interests. At the same time, the old Jäger-class gunboats that had been ordered in 1859 needed to be replaced. The two Albatross-class gunboats and the rebuilt Cyclop were too few for the task of patrolling the Far East, so another three vessels were ordered according to the fleet plan that had been approved in 1872. The design for the new ships was completed in 1876, and it called for reusing the engines from three of the Camäleon-class gunboats that had also been ordered in the 1859 plan. These three ships became the Wolf-class gunboats. They were to be used extensively abroad to support the fleet's larger cruising screw corvettes and screw frigates.

Wolf was 47.2 meters (154 ft 10 in) long overall, with a beam of 7.66 m (25 ft 2 in) and a draft of 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in). She displaced 490 metric tons (480 long tons) as designed and 570 t (560 long tons) at full load. The ship's crew consisted of 5 officers and 80 enlisted men. She was powered by a marine steam engine that drove a 2-bladed screw propeller, with steam provided by two coal-fired trunk fire-tube boilers. The engine was taken from the old gunboat Blitz. Her propulsion system was rated to produce a top speed of 8.5 knots (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph) at 340 metric horsepower (340 ihp), but she reached 9.4 knots (17.4 km/h; 10.8 mph) in service. At a cruising speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph), she could steam for 1,640 nautical miles (3,040 km; 1,890 mi). To supplement the steam engine on long voyages, the ships were fitted with a barque sailing rig.

The ship was armed with a pair of 12.5 cm (4.9 in) K L/23 built-up guns, which were supplied with a total of 270 rounds of ammunition. She carried an additional pair of 8.7 cm (3.4 in) K L/24 built up guns and three 37 mm (1.5 in) Hotchkiss revolver cannon.

The contract for Wolf was awarded to the Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven (Imperial Shipyard) in Wilhelmshaven in September 1876, under the contract name Ersatz Salamander. The keel for the new ship was laid down later that year. She was launched on 21 March 1878, and Konteradmiral (Rear Admiral) Gustav Klatt gave a speech at the launching ceremony. The new gunboat was named for an earlier gunboat of the same name that had been built in the 1860s. The ship was commissioned six months later on 1 October. She thereafter began sea trials, but these were cut short by the need to send the ship to Asia immediately.

Wolf got underway on 26 October, bound for China, but already on 4 November, she had to stop in Sheerness, Britain, after damaging her screw. Repairs lasted until 11 November, and the following day, the ship's engine broke down, forcing her to stop in Margate for further repairs. The crew's luck improved for the rest of the voyage, and on 2 February 1879, Wolf arrived in Singapore. She thereafter joined the cruiser squadron in East Asia, which was led by the screw corvette Leipzig and included the corvettes Freya and Luise and the gunboat Cyclop. Wolf initially visited Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Hainan Island, and Beihai, along the south China coast. She then sailed south to visit Annam before returning north to Hong Kong on 1 May. Wolf thereafter sailed on 12 May to visit northern waters, which included a stop in Yokohama, Japan, on 1 July. There she met the corvette Prinz Adalbert, which had relieved Leipzig as the squadron flagship. Wolf got underway again on 22 July and returned to the coast of China. She cruised in the Yellow and Bohai Seas, visiting many ports in the region, including Shanghai. On 30 November, she anchored in Yantai, China, where she spent the winter months.