The German German: [[Kaiserliche Marine]] (Imperial Navy) abandoned gunboat construction for more a decade after, launched in 1887. General Leo von Caprivi, the chief of the German: [[Kaiserliche Admiralität]] (Imperial Admiralty) at the time, preferred a strategy of coastal defense, which meant concentrating the fleet in home waters and orienting it for defensive operations. The creation of the German colonial empire beginning in 1884 threatened Caprivi's plans, however, and necessitated the construction of vessels that could patrol Germany's fledgling empire. Caprivi began with the two s in the mid-1880s.
By the early-1890s, the navy began planning to replace the older vessels of the and es, though they expected the Wolfs to remain in service until 1908. An early proposal in 1892 envisioned ordering four more s on top of the six already under construction, but the idea came to nothing. The German: [[German Imperial Naval High Command|Oberkommando der Marine]] (Naval High Command) requested a total of nine gunboats to be operational by the end of the decade. But the loss of the gunboat —one of the Wolf-class ships—necessitated an immediate replacement, which was added to the 1898 naval budget. The new ship was planned to patrol the German colonial empire; requirements included engines powerful enough for the ship to steam up the Yangtze in China, where the new gunboat was intended to be deployed. The ships would carry only a light armament, as they were not intended to engage in combat with equal counterparts; the ships would only be used to patrol the colonies. Six ships were built in three identical pairs.
The ships of the Iltis class varied slightly in dimensions. The first four ships were 65.2m (213.9feet) long overall and had a beam of, while Panther and Eber were long overall; their beam increased slightly to . The ships had a draft of forward. Iltis and Jaguar displaced 894lk=onNaNlk=on as designed and at full load. Tiger and Luchs had the same design displacement, but full load increased to . The final pair of ships, Panther and Eber, increased design displacement to and full load to .
Their hull consisted of transverse steel frames, over which the composite steel and timber hull planking was laid. They were sheathed in Muntz metal to protect them from marine biofouling on extended voyages abroad. The first three ships' hulls were divided into eleven watertight comparments, while the rest of the class only had ten. They all had a double bottom under the propulsion machinery spaces. The first two ships had a raised forecastle deck and a pronounced ram bow, while the latter four exchanged the ram for a straight stem. Their superstructure consisted primarily of a conning tower with an open bridge atop it, along with a smaller deck house further aft. The ships were fitted with a pair of pole masts for signaling purposes. The only armor protection carried by the ships was of steel plate on the conning tower, which was suitable only against rifle bullets and shell fragments.
Steering was controlled via a single rudder, and they maneuvered well under most conditions, apart from shallow waters or at high speed. The ships handled generally well, and were considered good sea boats, but they rolled badly in a beam sea. They also suffered from significant yaw and heel in a quartering sea. Despite their small size, they were generally dry vessels. For Panther and Eber, their deadwood was extended to correct the tendency to lose way.
They had a crew of 9 officers and 121 enlisted men. Each vessel carried a number of smaller boats, including one barge, one launch, one cutter, one yawl, and one dinghy. In addition, Panther and Eber each carried a second cutter, and while the Iltis-class ships operated in Chinese waters, they carried a pair of sampans as well.
Iltiss propulsion system consisted of a pair of horizontal triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single three-bladed screw propeller; the rest of the class received vertical triple-expansion engines. The engines were placed in a single engine room. Steam for the engines was supplied by four coal-fired Thornycroft boilers, with the exception of Eber, which received four navy-type boilers. All ships had their boilers installed in a single boiler room. Exhaust was vented through two funnels located amidships. The first four ships carried a pair of electricity generators that produced 16kW at 67 Volts, while Panther and Eber had three generators that produced at 67 Volts and at 110 Volts, respectively.
The ships was rated to steam at a top speed of 13.5kn at 1300PS, though all members of the class exceeded these figures in service. The ships' coal storage varied significantly, as did their engines' efficiency. Iltis and Jaguar carried a maximum of of coal, and had a cruising radius of about 3080nmi at a speed of . At the same speed, Tiger and Luchs were capable of only, from a maximum capacity of of coal. Panther and Eber, meanwhile, carried of coal and could sail for at that speed.
Iltis and Jaguar were armed with a main battery of four 8.8sp=usNaNsp=us SK L/30 guns, with 1,124 rounds of ammunition. These weapons had a maximum range of . Two guns were placed side-by-side on the forecastle and the other pair side-by-side near the stern. The rest of the class exchanged these guns for a pair of 10.5cm (04.1inches) SK L/40 guns, which had become available during the design process for the third member of the class. These guns were supplied with 482 rounds of ammunition, and could engage targets out to . These were also carried at the bow and stern, but singly. The mounts initially used for the 10.5 cm guns proved to be fragile, as demonstrated by Panthers engagements in 1902 against the Haitian gunboat and Venezuelan coastal fortifications, which led to modifications that resulted in an improved mounting.
All six ships also carried six Maxim guns, which were supplied with a total of 9,000 rounds of ammunition.
| Ship | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Commissioned | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schichau-Werke, Danzig | 1897 | 4 August 1898 | 1 Decemebr 1898 | ||
| 1898 | 19 September 1898 | 4 April 1899 | |||
| German: [[Kaiserliche Werft Kiel|Kaiserlich Werft]], Kiel | November 1898 | 15 August 1899 | 3 April 1900 | ||
| 1898 | 18 October 1899 | 15 May 1900 | |||
| 1900 | 1 April 1901 | 15 March 1902 | |||
| AG Vulcan, Stettin | 1902 | 6 June 1903 | 15 September 1903 |