SMS Iltis

1902 lithograph of Iltis
History
German Empire
Name: SMS Iltis
Builder: Schichau-Werke, Danzig
Laid down: 1897
Launched: 4 August 1898
Commissioned: 1 December 1898
Fate: scuttled on 28 September 1914
General characteristics
Class and type: Iltis-class gunboat
Displacement: 1,048 metric tons (1,031 long tons; 1,155 short tons)
Length: 65.2 meters (214 ft) o/a
Beam: 9.1 m (30 ft)
Draft: 3.59 m (11.8 ft)
Propulsion: 2 × 3-cylinder triple expansion engines
Speed: 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h; 17.0 mph)
Range: 3,080 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Complement:
  • 9 officers
  • 121 enlisted men
Armament:
  • 4 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns
  • 6 × machine guns

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.

Design

Iltis was 65.2 meters (214 ft) long overall and had a beam of 9.1 m (30 ft) and a draft of 3.59 m (11.8 ft) forward. She displaced 1,048 metric tons (1,031 long tons; 1,155 short tons) at full load. 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. Iltis could steam at a top speed of 14.8 knots (27.4 km/h; 17.0 mph) at 1,378 indicated horsepower (1,028 kW). 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).[1] She had a crew of between 9 officers and 121 enlisted men.[2] 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. She also carried six machine guns.[1][3]

Service history

An Iltis-class ship in the harbor at Tsingtao

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,[4] 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.[2]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Gröner, p. 142
  2. 1 2 Gröner, p. 143
  3. ↑ Gardiner, p. 260
  4. ↑ Gröner, pp. 142–153
  5. ↑ Perry, p. 28
  6. ↑ Herwig, p. 106
  7. ↑ Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 196

References

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