EBER SMS 1887

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aukepalmhof
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EBER SMS 1887

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Mar 09, 2011 8:49 pm

Built as iron hulled colonial gunboat under yard No 10 by the Kaiserliche Werft at Kiel for the German Imperial Navy.
1886 Keel laid down.
15 February 1887 launched as the SMS EBER, not any sisters.
Displacement: 582 ton, maximum 735 ton. Dim. 51.7 x 8.0 x 3.8m. (draught), length bpp. 48.5m.
Powered by one horizontal 3-cyl compound steam engine, 766 hp., speed 11 knots. Hoisting propeller.
Range by a speed of 9 knots, 2,000 mile.
Three masted barque rigged. Sail area 590m². She was fitted with a ram-bow.
Armament: 3 – 10.5 cm, 4 – 3.7 cm. guns
Crew 81.
25 September 1887 commissioned. Building cost 732,000 DM.

During the trial it was found that she pounded and rolled heavily, but was well under control and steered well, even under sail.
10 November 1887 she sailed from Kiel bound for Cooktown, Australia, the passage took 131 days of which 49 days were spent in various ports. The passage was partly under sail, also during the voyage she had a bunker-fire which was extinguished.
24 April 1888 she arrived at Apia, Solomon Islands.
On the end of July 1888 she sailed out to visited many ports in the German Pacific colonies from Papua New Guinea to the Marshall Islands till the end of November.
02 October 1888 the commander of the EBER, Oberleutnant zur See Emsmann hoisted the German flag at Nauru.
22 November she was back at Apia, and Emsmann was relieved from his command by Lieutenant Eugene Wallis.
At that time tension arise between Germany, U.S.A. and the United Kingdom over the ownership of Samoa.
Three American warships arrived at Apia the USS VANDALIA, USS NIPSIC and USS TRENTON, one Royal Navy ship was in port the HMS CALLIOPE and from Germany were in port the SMS EBER, ADLER and OLGA.
When looting started of German plantations by supporters of King Mataafa Josefo appointed by the United Kingdom and the U.S.A., the German ships landed troops to protect the plantations.
Near Vailele this landing forces met on 18 December 1888 the Samoan troops under command of an American.
Fighting broke out between the 220 German troops and the much larger continent Samoan troops, in which 16 Germans were killed and 27 wounded, one of the killed was a crew member of the EBER.
After the battle of 18 December the attacks on the Germans by the Samoans did not decline, the German consulate was set on fire where after the British forces were engaged in the battle.
The tension, special between the U.S.A and Germany remained, and the German ships stayed in Apia except the EBER who made a voyage to Auckland to send a despatch over the course of the battle at Vaile to Germany, but she returned shortly thereafter again in Apia.

Mid March 1889, Samoa was hit by a severe cyclone, while it would have been wiser to send the warships out of Apia harbour to sea, all the ships stayed at anchor in port. Only the HMS CALLIOPE by his more powerful engine escaped to sea.
The EBER after three anchors and with the engine full speed tried to ride out the hurricane, several collisions happened between the EBER and OLGA and the American ships, but when the rudder of the EBER broke and the anchors started to drag the EBER drifted on a coral reef and was lost.
73 Crew lost their life under which the commander, only one officer and 4 men survived the loss of the EBER and 5 men who were at shore to guard the German consulate.

The EBER was complete destroyed in the hurricane only some debris you could see on the reef and the beach.
The survivors were taken later on board the LÜBECK to Sydney and from there by the liner HABSBURG to Germany.

Samoa 1989 50s sg822, scott755a.

Source: Conway’s All the World’s Fighting Ships 1860-1905. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Eber_(1887)
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