SMS Geier, Imperial German Navy cruiser at North Carolina, United States.

SMS Geier was an unprotected cruiser of the Bussard class, built at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven: laid down in 1893, launched on 18 October 1894, commissioned on 24 October 1895. The hull, 83.9 m long and 10.6 m wide, had steel frames sheathed in yellow pine planking covered with Muntz metal against shipworm. Eight 10.5 cm SK L/35 guns, five 3.7 cm revolver cannon and two deck-mounted 45 cm torpedo tubes made up the armament.

The ship entered service in 1895 and operated initially for the German Navy across several regions of the world. After the United States entered the war, American forces seized the vessel in 1917 and continued using it under a new name.

The ship's name means "vulture" in German, continuing the Bussard class's bird-of-prey naming scheme. In 1917 the US Navy renamed the seized vessel USS Schurz after Carl Schurz, a German-born Union general and statesman. The wreck now lies at 35 meters off North Carolina and is a popular scuba diving site.

The wreck of USS Schurz, formerly SMS Geier, rests at a depth of 115 feet (35 m) off the North Carolina coast, at coordinates 34.187, -76.602. Diving it requires deep-water certification and wreck-diving experience; the depth puts it beyond recreational limits for many divers. The site is reached by boat, and conditions depend on currents and visibility on the day.

The ship started under German control and later received a new American name after being taken over by the United States. This name change reflects the political shifts that happened during World War I.