SMS Iltis (1898)

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. The ships were built to modernize the German gunboat force that was used to patrol the German colonial empire. They were ordered in three groups of two ships, each pair incorporating design improvements. Iltis, along with Jaguar, was armed with a main battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns, had a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph), and could cruise for more than 3,000 nautical miles (5,560 km; 3,450 mi).

After entering service in 1899, Iltis was deployed to the East Asia Squadron, based in Qingdao, China. The following year, the Boxer Uprising broke out in China, and Iltis was heavily involved in the initial operations by the Eight Nation Alliance to suppress the Boxers, and then fight Qing troops supporting them. Iltis contributed men to landing parties to secure Tientsin, and in June 1900, she saw significant fighting at the Battle of the Taku Forts, leading the naval assault on the forts guarding the entrance to the Hai River. During the action, Iltis received numerous hits and suffered relatively heavy casualties, including the first German naval officer killed in action. The ship's captain, Wilhelm von Lans, was seriously wounded during the battle and received the Pour le Merite for his actions. Iltis was similarly decorated.

Iltis saw no further action for the remainder of her time in East Asian waters, though her crew remained on alert during the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing government in 1911 and 1912. After the start of World War I in July 1914, Iltis was disarmed; some of her weapons and crew were sent to convert a captured Russian merchant vessel into the auxiliary cruiser Cormoran, while the rest were used to strengthen the defenses of Qingdao. After the British and Japanese besieged Qingdao later that year, Iltis was scuttled on the night of 28–29 September to prevent her capture.