SMS Gefion was an unprotected cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine launched on 31 March 1893 and commissioned on 5 June 1895.

In May 1898, SMS Gefion was assigned to the Ostasiatische Station in Kiautschou.  She took part in the Battle of Taku Forts in June 1900 during the Boxer Uprising.

SMS Gefion returned to Germany in mid-1901 for modernization, but she didn’t return to active service follow completion of the work.  She was used as a barracks ship from 1916 to the end of the war.  In 1920, she was sold and briefly served as a freighter before being scrapped in 1923.