The German navies—specifically the Kaiserliche Marine, Reichsmarine, and Kriegsmarine—built a series of light cruisers between the 1890s and 1940s. The authorization for a major construction program for light cruisers came in the 1898 Naval Law, which ordered the acquisition of thirty vessels of the type. The first such class of light cruiser, the Gazelle class, was based on several intermediate designs of unprotected cruisers, such as the Bussard class, and avisos—dispatch boats—like SMS Hela. The ten members of the Gazelle class set the basic parameters for all later light cruisers of the Kaiserliche Marine. Over the following two decades, the Germans built a further thirty-seven light cruisers; these vessels slowly grew in size, speed, armament, and armor. The original 10.5 cm (4.1 in