SMS Eber was the last of the six gunboats of the Iltis class built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s.

Eber, along with Panther, was armed with a main battery of two 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns, had a top speed of 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph), and could cruise for 3,400 nautical miles (6,300 km; 3,910 mi).

Eber thereafter sailed for then-neutral Brazil, where she remained until the Brazilian government entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente.

The ship's activity during the deployment was characterized by routine visits to ports along the western coast of Africa to show the flag.

After Eber and Berlin were ordered to leave Morocco, the two ships had to seek shelter at Tanger and Casablanca to avoid severe storms.

This order was rescinded, however, after an experiment the previous year with Panther had demonstrated that it was more cost effective to bring a gunboat back to Germany for the overhaul than it was to pay a foreign shipyard to do the work.

In late December 1913, the Detached Division, which included the dreadnought battleships Kaiser and König Albert and the light cruiser Strassburg visited the German West African colonies during their long Atlantic cruise; they remained in the area into January 1914 before proceeding further in their voyage.

Eber continued her survey work in the Gulf of Guinea until early July, when she sailed south for another overhaul at Cape Town.

The British commander of naval forces in the area, Admiral Herbert King-Hall, had ordered the local authorities to prevent Eber from leaving, but they failed to do so.

[7] On 2 August, Eber arrived in Lüderitz in German Southwest Africa, where she was then in the range of the wireless telegraph transmitter in Berlin.

In company with several German steamships acting as colliers, Eber departed for the coast of Brazil, arriving off the remote Brazilian island of Trindade and Martim Vaz.

There, she remained for the next several days; while waiting for a suitable passenger ship, Eber briefly met the light cruiser Dresden on 20 August.

[9] Cap Trafalgar departed on 4 September to begin the commerce raiding campaign, while Eber, having been disarmed, sailed under a commercial flag to try to reach a Brazilian port.

In late 1917, Brazil entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente, and to prevent her capture, Eber's remaining crew set the ship on fire on 26 October and then scuttled her by opening her sea valves.