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SMS Iltis (1898)

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For other ships with the same name, see SMS Iltis.
A 1902 lithograph of Iltis
History
German Empire
NameSMS Iltis
NamesakeSMS Iltis
BuilderSchichau-Werke, Danzig
Laid down1897
Launched4 August 1898
Commissioned1 December 1898
FateScuttled on 28 September 1914
General characteristics
Class and typeIltis-class gunboat
Displacement
Length65.2 m (213 ft 11 in) o/a
Beam9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
Draft3.59 m (11 ft 9 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
Speed13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph)
Range3,080 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement
  • 9 officers
  • 121 enlisted men
Armament
ArmorConning tower: 8 mm (0.31 in)

SMS Iltis was the lead ship of the Iltis class of gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Other ships of the class are SMS Luchs, SMS Tiger, SMS Eber, SMS Jaguar, and SMS Panther.

Design

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Main article: Iltis-class gunboat
Plan and profile of the Iltis class

The German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) abandoned gunboat construction for more a decade after Eber, launched in 1887. By the mid-1890s, the navy began planning to replace the older vessels of the Wolf and Habicht classes, but the loss of the gunboat Iltis necessitated an immediate replacement, which was added to the 1898 naval budget. The new ship was planned to patrol the German colonial empire; requirements included engines powerful enough for the ship to steam up the Yangtze in China, where the new gunboat was intended to be deployed. Six ships were built in three identical pairs.[1]

Iltis was 65.2 meters (213 ft 11 in) long overall and had a beam of 9.1 m (29 ft 10 in) and a draft of 3.59 m (11 ft 9 in) forward. She displaced 894 metric tons (880 long tons) as designed and 1,048 t (1,031 long tons) at full load. The ship had a raised forecastle deck and a pronounced ram bow. Her superstructure consisted primarily of a conning tower with an open bridge atop it. She had a crew of 9 officers and 121 enlisted men.[2][3]

Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-fired Thornycroft boilers. Exhaust was vented through two funnels located amidships. Iltis was rated to steam at a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) at 1,300 metric horsepower (1,300 ihp), though she exceeded these figures in service. The ship had a cruising radius of about 3,080 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).[2][3]

Iltis was armed with a main battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns, with 1,124 rounds of ammunition. Two guns were placed side-by-side on the forecastle and the other pair side-by-side near the stern. She also carried six 37 mm (1.5 in) Maxim guns. The only armor protection carried by the ship was 8 mm (0.31 in) of steel plate on the conning tower.[2][4]

Service history

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An illustration of Iltis firing during the Boxer Rebellion

Iltis was laid down at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in 1897. She was launched on 4 August 1898 and commissioned into the German fleet on 1 December that year. After entering service, Iltis was sent abroad,[2] to Germany's main naval force in Asia, the East Asia Squadron. Shortly thereafter, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China. At the time, the East Asia Squadron also included the protected cruisers Kaiserin Augusta, Hansa, Hertha, and Irene, the unprotected cruiser Gefion, and the gunboat Jaguar.[5] Kaiser Wilhelm II decided that an expeditionary force was necessary to reinforce the Eight Nation Alliance that had formed to defeat the Boxers. The expeditionary force consisted of the four Brandenburg-class battleships, six cruisers, 10 freighters, three torpedo boats, and six regiments of marines, under the command of Marshal Alfred von Waldersee.[6]

After the outbreak of World War I in early August 1914, the light cruiser Emden captured the Russian steamer Ryazan and brought her back to Tsingtao. Men from the crews of Iltis, the unprotected cruiser Cormoran and the gunboat Vaterland were used to man Ryazan, which was commissioned as the auxiliary cruiser Cormoran.[7] Iltis was then scuttled on 28 September 1914 during the Siege of Tsingtao. Three of her sisters were also scuttled during the siege.[8]

Notes

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  1. ^ Nottelmann, pp. 73–74.
  2. ^ a b c d Gröner, pp. 142–143.
  3. ^ a b Lyon, p. 260.
  4. ^ Nottelmann, p. 74.
  5. ^ Perry, p. 28.
  6. ^ Herwig, p. 106.
  7. ^ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz Vol. 4, p. 196.
  8. ^ Gröner, p. 143.

References

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  • Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Vol. I: Major Surface Vessels. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6.
  • Herwig, Holger (1998) [1980]. "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
  • Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien: ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies: A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 2. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8364-9743-5.
  • Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert & Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe: Biographien – ein Spiegel der Marinegeschichte von 1815 bis zur Gegenwart [The German Warships: Biographies − A Reflection of Naval History from 1815 to the Present] (in German). Vol. 4. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-7822-0382-1.
  • Lyon, Hugh (1979). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger; Kolesnik, Eugene M. (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1860–1905. Greenwich: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 978-0-85177-133-5.
  • Nottelmann, Dirk (2022). "The Development of the Small Cruiser in the Imperial German Navy Part III: The Gunboats". In Jordan, John (ed.). Warship 2022. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 63–79. ISBN 978-1-4728-4781-2.
  • Perry, Michael (2001). Peking 1900: the Boxer rebellion. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-181-7.

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