SMS Eber

SMS Eber was the last of the six gunboats of the Iltis-class of the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I. The others were Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger, Lynx and Panther. They were built between 1898 and 1903. All of them served primarily overseas, in the German colonies. Eber had a crew of 9 officers and 121 men.

Service history
Eber was posted in West African waters prior to World War I. During a port visit to Cape Town Eber received news of impending war with Great Britian, and immediately sailed to avoid capture. She arrived in German South-West Africa on August 1, 1914, three days prior to the formal declaration of war. After taking on coal at Lüderitz, the gunboat departed for South American waters, to assume wartime duties. She met up with the German passenger liner Cap Trafalgar off the Brazilian island of Trindade and transferred her guns, most of her ammunitions and some of her crew to the liner, which was then expected to operate as a commerce raider. Eber herself was interned in Brazil and scuttled by her crew on 16 October 1917 in Salvador, Bahia when Brazil joined the war against Germany.

SMS EBER (Pacific Ocean)
A previous SMS Eber was wrecked by the 1889 Apia cyclone while anchored in Samoa.