SMS Eber (1887)

SMS Eber in 1887
History
German Empire
NameSMS Eber
NamesakeGerman for "boar"
BuilderKaiserliche Werft Kiel, Germany
Launched15 February 1887
CommissionedSeptember 1887
FateWrecked, March 1889
General characteristics [1]
Displacement735 tons
Length51 m (167 ft 4 in)
Beam8 m (26 ft 3 in)
Draught3.8 m (12 ft 6 in)
Speed11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Armament3 guns

SMS Eber, a 735-ton iron-hulled gunboat, was built at Kiel, Germany for gunboat diplomacy in the Pacific. It was a barque-rigged auxiliary steamer. After commissioning in September 1887 she was sent to the Pacific to serve in the German colonial empire. She disarmed the inhabitants of Nauru in 1888,[2] ending their civil war and annexing the island to the German Empire. Eber was anchored in Apia Harbor, Samoa, during the 1889 Apia cyclone of 15–16 March 1889. Though she was the most modern of the seven warships present, damage to her propeller made it impossible for her to survive the violent wind and seas.[3] After a long struggle, Eber was forced against the edge of the harbor reef and sank quickly, with the loss of 73 of her crewmen.[4]

  • SMS Eber on the beach of Apia after the cyclone
    SMS Eber on the beach of Apia after the cyclone
  1. ^ Anton, Ralph (2013). "SMS Eber - Kanonenboot der Kaiserlichen Marine". deutsche-schutzgebiete.de. Retrieved 27 August 2013.
  2. ^ Stevenson, Robert Louis (November 1888) [1892]. "VII_The Samoan Camps". A Footnote to History: Eight Years of Trouble in Samoa. Cassell. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-8248-1857-9. OCLC 227258432. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  3. ^ Naval Historical Center (23 March 2002). "SMS Eber (Gunboat, 1887-1889)". United States Navy. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  4. ^ "Six War Vessels Sunk; Wrecked in a Hurricane at Samoa" (PDF). New York Times. 30 March 1889.