In the brief war of 1866, the Austrian fleet was tied down to the Mediterranean by the superior sea-power of Italy, and the operations of the Prussian ships were confined to a few cheap victories over the antiquated coast and river fortifications of Hanover. As the result of the war, Prussia was rounded off by the incorporation of the Kingdom of Hanover, Electoral Hesse, Nassau, and the old imperial town of Frankfort-on-Main. She thus secured for herself the entire German North Sea littoral, with the exception of the coast-line of Oldenburg, which by treaty was already hers in fact if not in law. Immediately after the conclusion of peace, all the States to the north of the Main were closely welded together in the North German Confederation, the first decisive step towards the creation of the Empire. An article in the Federal Constitution ran: "The Federal Navy is one and indivisible under the command of Prussia. Its organization and composition fall to His Majesty the King of Prussia, who nominates the officials and officers of the navy, and to whom they, as well as the crews, must take the oath of fealty. Kiel harbour and the Jade harbour are federal war harbours. The expenses necessary for the establishment and maintenance of the fleet and the institutions connected therewith will be borne by the Federal Treasury."
Two years later a fresh naval programme was submitted to, and approved by, the North German Reichstag. It laid down that within ten years the fleet should be brought up to the subjoined strength:
16 large and small armoured ships.
20 corvettes.
8 despatch-boats.
3 transports.
22 steam gunboats.
7 school-ships.
The new vessels actually needed for the attainment of this establishment were 12 armoured ships, 12 corvettes, 6 despatch-boats, 2 transports, and 1 school-ship. As native ship-builders had so far had no experience in the construction of ironclads, only one vessel of this type was placed in Germany, the State yard at Dantzic being experimentally entrusted with the work, while the rest were purchased or ordered in England or France. No fact could illustrate more vividly the tremendous progress which Germany has since made in this respect.
Oddly enough, the great war with France was succeeded by a marked cooling-off of the popular enthusiasm for the navy in Germany. The reasons for this appear to have been disappointment with what the fleet actually accomplished and the complete overthrow of the enemy without its assistance. Even if all the federal ships had been in perfect trim and manned by thoroughly trained crews, they were confronted by so overwhelming a superiority of force that at best they could have achieved little or nothing. But the outbreak of hostilities coincided with a series of accidents which temporarily disabled several of Germany's best war vessels, and at that time there was not a single dock in the country in which they could be repaired. Officers and crews were, too, imperfectly trained and insufficiently familiar with both engines and guns, the harbour equipments were inadequate, and, in fact, everything was in a state of unpreparedness.
That the French, with their great naval superiority, effected so little, and did not even make a determined attempt to force the Jade and destroy the works at Wilhelmshaven, can only be ascribed to their lack of initiative and the paralyzing operation of their crushing defeats on land. The only regular engagement fought at sea during the war was an encounter of uncertain issue between a small German gunboat and a French despatch-boat off the coast of Cuba. But in spite of the odds against the federal fleet, public opinion in Germany protested that it should have shown more dash and enterprise, and in some way have crowned itself with laurels. Even more prejudicial to the popularity of an ambitious naval policy was the patent fact that the hereditary and most formidable foe had been thoroughly and rapidly humbled by a purely land campaign, and that his superiority on the sea had availed him practically nothing. To such considerations must be attributed a large share of the indifference with which many Germans regarded their navy during the next thirty years.
The prevalent views were reflected in the Memorandum with which, in 1872, the Minister of Marine, Lieutenant-General von Stosch, ushered in the first naval programme of the new German Empire. This document stated that in a long war Germany must leave the offensive to her land force, and that the proper task of her navy was to assert the power of the Empire where smaller interests were at stake in places to which the army could not penetrate. An increase in the fleet was, however, stated to be necessary on the ground of the growth of German sea-borne trade, and it was proposed that the following vessels should be available by the year 1882:
8 armoured frigates.
6 armoured corvettes.
7 armoured monitors.
2 armoured batteries.
20 cruisers.
6 despatch-boats.
18 gunboats.
28 torpedo-boats.
5 school-ships.
The cost of these vessels was estimated at 73,000,000 thalers, that of their maintenance in the year 1882 at 1,300,000 thalers. The plan, which was much more modest in its pretensions than its predecessors, and in principle constituted a retirement from the position formerly taken up, was approved by the first Parliament of the new Germany.
The first royal review of the German Fleet took place in the Warnemünde roads in 1875. The ships present were four ironclads, a despatch-boat, and four school-ships; their total complements 2,862 officers and men.