SMS Thetis was a light cruiser of the Kaiserliche Marine launched on 3 July 1900 and commissioned on 14 September 1901.

In late 1901, she was assigned to the Ostasiatische Station in Kiautschou.  In that assignment, she patrolled Chinese waters protecting German interested in East Asia.  In 1905, she was reassigned to Ostafrika Station in Deutsch-Ostafrika in response to the Maji Maji Rebellion.  Following the suppression of the rebellion, she was placed in reserve status in Germany.

At the outbreak of World War I, she re-entered service, and served in Baltic waters before being relegated to a training ship.  Upon Germany’s surrender, she was one of six cruisers which Germany was permitted to retain in the new Reichsmarine.  She served until September 1924, when she was finally decommissioned, serving as a barracks ship until 1929 before being scrapped in 1930.