In the years after the French/German war of 1870/71, the German navy was looking for ships that could be used to protect the growing numbers of overseas colonies. The existing gunboats were not very useful for this, outgunned by foreign vessels, too small to store the nescessary amount of coal and not seaworth enough to operate on oceans far away from the costal waters of Germany or the North Sea.

Therefore a new class of ships was ordered, the Kreuzer IV. Class of the Bussard class. Not build after the requirements of naval fleet battles, but specially designed ships for overseas duty. Beside their huge coal capacity, they were equipped with sails to assist the steam engines. Quite unusual for its time, the cruisers were equipped with an electrical system and a huge flashlight on top of the command bridge.

The ships were said to be good seagoing vessels, but because of their gun mountings besides the hull, they lost speed in higher seas.

The Condor operated in East Africa, Indian Ocean and South Eas Asia. It was put out of active duty before the war and used as a mine hulk during wartime. The ship was scrapped in the early 1920s.