Most of the locomotives of the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg Railway were based on a Prussian model. However, there was a problem when choosing a modern and powerful express locomotive, as the average axle load in the Oldenburg network was limited to just 15 tonnes. So they developed the S 10 with the 2-6-2 wheel arrangement, which is rare in Germany, on their own and had three pieces built by Hanomag.

It was the first superheated steam locomotive in Oldenburg, and the Lentz design valve gear was also used, which had already been used several times in Oldenburg. This consisted of four vertical valves per cylinder, which were actuated by a camshaft. Although it was not able to establish itself on other railroad companies, it did have some advantages over conventional slide valves. Efforts were also made to make maintenance easier in other places. Therefore, a two-cylinder engine with simple steam expansion was used and instead of complicated steering bogies, both carrying axles were designed as Adams axles.

Due to the overhanging firebox behind the coupled axles, the trailing axle had to be moved further back in order to achieve a balanced load distribution. In operation, however, it was noticed after a short time that this construction led to poor running characteristics, especially at high speeds. It was also found that the ratio of direct to tube heating surface was unfavorable. The resulting stresses caused leaks between the pipe wall and the pipes. Attempts were made to remedy this by using a copper firebox instead of steel, but this was not entirely successful.

After the founding of the Reichsbahn, the three locomotives were taken over as numbers 16 001 to 16 003. The class 16 came about because they were the only express locomotives with the wheel arrangement 2-6-2. Due to the shortcomings and the small number, however, they were retired in 1926 when they were less than ten years old. They were replaced by the Prussian P 8, which reached the same speed and had roughly the same power.