The Augusta class of screw corvettes were a pair of vessels acquired by the Prussian Navy in the 1860s. The class comprised two ships, Augusta and Victoria. The ships were originally secretly ordered by the Confederate States Navy in 1863 from Arman Brothers shipyard in Bordeaux, France, purportedly for the Japanese fleet. The ships, intended to be named Mississippi and Louisiana, were given the cover names Yeddo and Osaka in an attempt to hide their destination, but their delivery was blocked by the French Emperor Napoleon III in 1864. Both ships were sold to the Prussian Navy in May 1864, as the Prussians had been in search of vessels to strengthen their fleet before and during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, though they entered service too late to see action in the conflict. The ships were intended to be used as blockade runners, but once they entered service they were too slow to be used in that capacity.

SMS Augusta was a wooden steam corvette built in the 1860s, the lead ship of the Augusta class. She had one sister ship, Victoria; the ships were armed with a battery of fourteen guns. Augusta was laid down in 1863 at the Arman Brothers shipyard in Bordeaux, France, and was launched in early 1864. Originally ordered by the Confederate States Navy, her delivery was blocked by the French Emperor Napoleon III, and she was instead sold to the Prussian Navy in May 1864. The Prussians had been in search of vessels to strengthen their fleet before and during the Second Schleswig War against Denmark, but Augusta arrived too late to see action in the conflict.