The Meteor class was a pair of two avisos built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late-1880s and early 1890s. The class comprised two ships: Meteor and Comet. Unlike earlier avisos built for the fleet, which were designed to fill a variety of roles, the Meteor class was intended to protect the fleet's capital ships from torpedo boat attacks. They were armed with a battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) quick-firing guns. Both vessels suffered from serious problems that rendered them unfit for service, namely poor seakeeping and excessive vibration of their propeller shafts. As a result, they saw little service, with Comet's only periods in commission being to test what were unsuccessful attempts to correct the problems. Meteor had a somewhat more active career, serving with