SMS Eber was the last of the six gunboats of the Iltis-class of the German Imperial Navy prior to and during World War I. The others were Iltis, Jaguar, Tiger, Luchs and Panther. They were built between 1898 and 1903. The boats displaced between 894 and 977 tons, were 66 m long, had a top speed of 14 knots and a crew of 130. Iltis and Jaguar, the first two, were armed with four 8.8 cm guns, the others with two 10.5 cm guns. In addition they carried six 3.7 cm guns. All of them served primarily overseas, in the German colonies.
Eber was posted in West African waters when the war broke out. She met up with the German passenger liner Cap Trafalgar off the Brazilian island of Trindade and transferred her guns, most of her ammunitions and some of her crew to the liner which was then expected to operate as a commerce raider. Eber herself was interned in Brazil and scuttled by her crew on 26 October 1917 in Bahia when Brazil joined the war against Germany.
Thank you, High Seas. Now I remember the poem that Edgar A. Poe wrote that was about you.
I always enjoy what people write.
It infuses the spirit,
Enhances the light,
Gives to the darkness
A gentle sight.
And myths become
real as we sing and take flight.
From Pegasus, goodnight.
Letty wrote:
Thank you, High Seas. Now I remember the poem that Edgar A. Poe wrote that was about you.
I always enjoy what people write.
It infuses the spirit,
Enhances the light,
Gives to the darkness
A gentle sight.
And myths become
real as we sing and take flight.
From Pegasus, goodnight.
Letty - probably as well that your beautiful Pegasus picture vanished into the mist of things that were, or that were copy-protected; at least your verses (and Poe's) stay with us always. Here's my all-time favorite internet cartoon, and if it vanishes I'll try to find it again in another variant:
