&sq=&lang=&file=File:SMS_Eber_(1887).jpg) SMS Eber in 1887
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Preceded by | Brummer class |
| Succeeded by | SMS Loreley |
| History | |
 German Empire | |
| Name | SMS Eber |
| Namesake | German for "boar" |
| Builder | Kaiserliche Werft Kiel, Germany |
| Laid down | 1886 |
| Launched | 15 February 1887 |
| Commissioned | 25 September 1887 |
| Fate | Wrecked, 16 March 1889 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Gunboat |
| Displacement | Full load: 735 t (723 long tons) |
| Length | 51.7 m (169 ft 7 in) |
| Beam | 8 m (26 ft 3 in) |
| Draft | 3.1 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Range | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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SMS Eber was a steam gunboat built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the 1880s, the only ship of her class. Intended to serve abroad, the ship was ordered as part of a construction program intended to modernize Germany's fleet of cruising vessels in the early-1880s. She was armed with a main battery of three 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph).
Immediately after commissioning in September 1887, Eber was deployed to the South Pacific to patrol the German colonial empire. Soon after arriving, her initial captain was relieved of command due to a nervous breakdown. In October 1888, she sailed to Nauru, where her crew formally proclaimed the German annexation of the island and disarmed its inhabitants, ending the Nauruan Civil War. She was thereafter stationed in Apia, Samoa, during the Samoan crisis that involved Germany, the United States, and United Kingdom.
The ship sent a landing party ashore in December 1888 that saw action during the First Battle of Vailele, a major defeat for German forces. She was present in the harbor on 16 March 1889 when a hurricane struck the island; all of the German and American ships were either destroyed or grounded by the storm. Eber was thrown into the reef by strong waves and smashed to pieces; out of her crew, only five survived the sinking. Another five men were ashore at the time and also survived the incident. The devastation nevertheless led to a settlement of the crisis and eventual partition of the islands into German and American colonies.