The ship's tonnage was 1,200 tons. This was 20 times the tonnage of the Hedwig and 150 times the tonnage of Mimi and Toutou.[1] The ship was launched on Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma on 8 June 1915.[2] It was commanded by Gustav Zimmer.[1] The admiralty and Spicer knew nothing of the ship at the time it was launched (this was very surprising and probably down to the poor state of communications between the British and Belgians on the ground and back home).[1] She was fitted out with guns brought up the railway from Dar es Salaam. These guns had been previously used on the Koenigsberg.[1]