SMS Tiger (1899)

SMS Tiger was the third member 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. Tiger, along with Luchs, was armed with a main battery of two 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns, had a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph), and could cruise for more than 2,500 nautical miles (4,630 km; 2,880 mi).

After entering service in 1900, Tiger was sent to the Far East to join the East Asia Squadron based in Qingdao, China. The ship spent much of her career cruising in the waters of the Far East. She did not participate in any fighting during the Boxer Uprising in China in 1900–1901, and instead patrolled the Yellow Sea. In early 1904, after the start of the Russo-Japanese War, the ship was used to evacuate Germans from Incheon, Korea, to avoid the fighting taking place in the country. During the Xinhai Revolution in China in 1911–1912, Tiger went to several cities to ensure the fighting did not affect Germans living in them. After the start of World War I in July 1914, Tiger was disarmed; her guns and part of her crew were used to equip the steamer Prinz Eitel Friedrich as an auxiliary cruiser. Tiger was subsequently scuttled during the Siege of Qingdao in October 1914.