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SMS Iltis (1878)
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<p>SMS <i>Iltis</i> was the third and final member of the <a href="/facts/Wolf-class_gunboat/ve2Vlym8"><i>Wolf</i> class</a> of steam <a href="/facts/Gunboat/J8q4Iglu">gunboats</a> built for the German <i><a href="/facts/Kaiserliche_Marine/wNhU6Hlo">Kaiserliche Marine</a></i> (Imperial Navy) in the 1870s. The ship was ordered as part of a construction program intended to begin replacing the old <a href="/facts/J%25C3%25A4ger-class_gunboat/b2oh25D1"><i>Jäger</i>-class gunboats</a> that had been built a decade earlier. Unlike the older ships, <i>Iltis</i> was intended to serve abroad to protect German economic interests overseas. The ship was armed with a <a href="/facts/Battery_(artillery)/lf2pfXQv">battery</a> of two medium-caliber guns and five lighter weapons, and had a top speed of 8.5 <a href="/facts/Knot_(unit)/Sho0TF2y">knots</a> (15.7 km/h; 9.8 mph). </p><p><i>Iltis</i> was sent on a deployment to <a href="/facts/East_Asia/D8yGVCQX">East Asia</a> in 1880 that lasted until 1886. The ship spent much of this time patrolling the coast of China, ready to protect German nationals in the country if need be. This included retaliating against pirates in the <a href="/facts/Pescadores_Islands/D4jFNs8o">Pescadores Islands</a> in 1882 and guarding Germans in <a href="/facts/Guangzhou/9hxfmEjq">Guangzhou</a>, China, in 1883. She was sent to the central Pacific in 1885 during an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control of the <a href="/facts/Caroline_Islands/7kIzyxFW">Caroline Islands</a> from Spain. After returning home in 1886, she was overhauled and modernized. </p><p>The ship was recommissioned in 1887 for another voyage to East Asian waters that lasted for nine years. She observed naval events during the <a href="/facts/First_Sino-Japanese_War/rYlcDT7Y">First Sino-Japanese War</a>, and took part in the rescue of Chinese sailors and soldiers after the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_Pungdo/xaIk817m">Battle of Pungdo</a>, and she was present when the main Japanese and Chinese fleets clashed at the <a href="/facts/Battle_of_the_Yalu_River_(1894)/SK5WHGR2">Battle of the Yalu River</a>. In 1896, while sailing to <a href="/facts/Qingdao/5BjM20Ju">Qingdao</a>, <i>Iltis</i> was caught in a <a href="/facts/Typhoon/xGfFa6H7">typhoon</a>, which drove her <a href="/facts/Ship_grounding/98CSCNyb">aground</a> and quickly broke her <a href="/facts/Hull_(watercraft)/hY6LxATt">hull</a> in half. Seventy-one men were killed in the sinking. </p>