| SMS Jaguar | |
|---|---|
 Jaguar c. 1899 | |
| Career (German Empire) |  |
| Name: | SMS Jaguar |
| Builder: | Schichau-Werke, Danzig |
| Laid down: | early 1898 |
| Launched: | 19 September 1898 |
| Commissioned: | 4 April 1899 |
| Fate: | scuttled on 7 November 1914 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type: | Iltis-class gunboat |
| Displacement: | 1,048 metric tons (1,031 long tons; 1,155 short tons) |
| Length: | 65.2 meters (214 ft) o/a |
| Beam: | 9.1 m (30 ft) |
| Draft: | 3.59 m (11.8 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 3-cylinder triple expansion engines |
| Speed: | 14.6 knots (27.0 km/h; 16.8 mph) |
| Range: | 3,080 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) at 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement: |
|
| Armament: |
|
SMS Jaguar was the second member of the Iltis class of gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s.
Design[]
Jaguar was 65.2 meters (214 ft) long overall and had a beam of 9.1 m (30 ft) and a draft of 3.59 m (11.8 ft) forward. She displaced 1,048 metric tons (1,031 long tons; 1,155 short tons) at full load. Her propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines each driving a single screw propeller, with steam supplied by four coal-fired Thornycroft boilers. Jaguar could steam at a top speed of 14.6 knots (27.0 km/h; 16.8 mph) at 1,378 indicated horsepower (1,028 kW). The ship had a cruising radius of about 3,080 nautical miles (5,700 km; 3,540 mi) at a speed of 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph).[1] She had a crew of between 9 officers and 121 enlisted men.[2] Jaguar was armed with a main battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/30 guns, with 1,124 rounds of ammunition. She also carried six machine guns.[1][3]
Service history[]
1902 lithograph of Jaguar
The keel for Jaguar was laid down at the Schichau-Werke shipyard in Danzig in early 1898. Her completed hull was launched on 19 September 1898 and after completing fitting-out work, the new gunboat was commissioned into the German fleet on 4 April 1899. After entering service, Jaguar was sent abroad,[4] to Germany's main naval force in Asia, the East Asia Squadron. Shortly thereafter, the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China. At the time, the East Asia Squadron also included the protected cruisers Kaiserin Augusta, Hansa, Hertha, and Irene, the unprotected cruiser Gefion, and the gunboat Jaguar.[5] Kaiser Wilhelm II decided that an expeditionary force was necessary to reinforce the Eight Nation Alliance that had formed to defeat the Boxers. The expeditionary force consisted of the four Brandenburg-class battleships, six cruisers, 10 freighters, three torpedo boats, and six regiments of marines, under the command of Marshal Alfred von Waldersee.[6]
In concert with the unprotected cruiser Condor, Jaguar participated in the suppression of unrest in the Marshall Islands in September and October 1908.[7] During this operation, the ships carried a contingent of Melanesian infantry to the island of Pohnpei to suppress tensions between rival factions on the island.[8] In early 1909, unrest broke out in Apia; Jaguar and the light cruisers Leipzig and Arcona were sent to suppress the uprising.[7]
Iltis was scuttled on 7 November 1914 at the German colony in the Kiautschou Bay concession, on the final day of the Siege of Tsingtao. Three of her sisters were also scuttled during the siege.[2]
Notes[]
References[]
- Gardiner, Robert, ed (1979). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860–1905. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0-85177-133-5.
- Gröner, Erich (1990). German Warships: 1815–1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-790-9.
- Herwig, Holger (1998) [1980]. "Luxury" Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888–1918. Amherst: Humanity Books. ISBN 978-1-57392-286-9.
- Hezel, Francis X. (2003). Strangers in Their Own Land: A Century of Colonial Rule in the Caroline and Marshall Islands. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-2804-6.
- Hildebrand, Hans H.; Röhr, Albert; Steinmetz, Hans-Otto (1993). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe. 2. Ratingen: Mundus Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8364-9743-5.
- Perry, Michael (2001). Peking 1900: the Boxer rebellion. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84176-181-7.
| |||||||||||
Coordinates: 36°03′00″N 120°16′00″E / 36.0500°N 120.2667°E
The original article can be found at SMS Jaguar and the edit history here.