Main battery in the context of "SMS Eber (1903)"

SMS Panther was one of six Iltis-class gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The ships were built to modernize the German gunboat force that was used to patrol the German colonial empire. They were ordered in three groups of two ships, each pair incorporating design improvements. Panther, along with Eber, 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).

Panther spent most of her career abroad, where she was involved in a number of international disputes. She was initially sent to the East American Station after entering service in 1902, and she was soon sent to intervene in the Markomannia incident, where she sank the Haitian gunboat Crête-à-Pierrot. Panther was next involved in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903, during which she participated in the bombardment of Fort San Carlos. Panther returned to Haiti in 1904 to pressure the Haitian government to pay a settlement after an attack on a German diplomat in the country. In 1905 and 1906, the ship toured South America, steaming as far south as Paraguay. She was transferred to German West Africa in mid-1907.

A battleship is a large, heavily armored warship with a main battery consisting of large guns, designed to serve as a capital ship. From their advent in the late 1880s, battleships were among the largest and most formidable warship types ever built, until they were surpassed by aircraft carriers beginning in the 1940s. The modern battleship traces its origin to the sailing ship of the line, which was developed into the steam ship of the line and soon thereafter the ironclad warship. After a period of extensive experimentation in the 1870s and 1880s, ironclad design was largely standardized by the British Royal Sovereign class, which are usually referred to as the first "pre-dreadnought battleships". These ships carried an armament that usually included four large guns and several medium-caliber guns that were to be used against enemy battleships, and numerous small guns for self-defense.

Naval powers around the world built dozens of pre-dreadnoughts in the 1890s and early 1900s, though they saw relatively little combat; only two major wars were fought during the period that included pre-dreadnought battles: the Spanish–American War in 1898 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. The following year, the British launched the revolutionary all-big-gun battleship HMS Dreadnought. This ship discarded the medium-caliber guns in exchange for a uniform armament of ten large guns. All other major navies quickly began (or had already started) "dreadnoughts" of their own, leading to a major naval arms race. During World War I, only one major fleet engagement took place: the Battle of Jutland in 1916, but neither side was able to achieve a decisive result.

Pre-dreadnought battleships were sea-going battleships built from the mid- to late- 1880s to the early 1900s. Their designs were conceived before the appearance of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 and their classification as "pre-dreadnought" is retrospectively applied. In their day, they were simply known as "battleships" or else more rank-specific terms such as "first-class battleship" and so forth. The pre-dreadnought battleships were the pre-eminent warships of their time and replaced the ironclad battleships of the 1870s and 1880s.

In contrast to the multifarious development of ironclads in preceding decades, the 1890s saw navies worldwide start to build battleships to a common design as dozens of ships essentially followed the design of the Royal Navy's Majestic class. Built from steel, protected by compound, nickel steel or case-hardened steel armor, pre-dreadnought battleships were driven by coal-fired boilers powering compound reciprocating steam engines which turned underwater screws. These ships distinctively carried a main battery of very heavy guns upon the weather deck, in large rotating mounts either fully or partially armored over, and supported by one or more secondary batteries of lighter weapons on broadside.

The Iltis class was a group of six gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) in the late 1890s and early 1900s. The class comprised Iltis, the lead ship, Jaguar, Tiger, Luchs, Panther, and Eber. The ships were built to modernize the German gunboat force that was used to patrol the German colonial empire. They were ordered in three groups of two ships, each pair incorporating design improvements. The first pair, Iltis and Jaguar, were armed with a main battery of four 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns and had a pronounced ram bow. The next pair, Tiger and Luchs, received two 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns instead of the 8.8 cm weapons, and adopted a straight stem. Panther and Eber were similar, but had modifications to their hull form to improve handling.

The first four members of the class were deployed to China as part of the East Asia Squadron after entering service, which was based in Qingdao. They were part of the Eight Nation Alliance that responded to the Boxer Uprising in China in 1900–1901, and Iltis saw significant action at the Battle of the Taku Forts where she led the Allied attack on the forts. The other members of the class were used to guard Europeans in various ports or patrol the region and did not take part in any fighting. Their subsequent careers were largely uneventful, apart from Jaguar's suppression of uprisings in German colonial holdings in the central Pacific in 1908–1909. At the start of World War I, Iltis, Tiger, and Luchs were disarmed to convert merchant ships into auxiliary cruisers, while Jaguar remained in service and fought in the Siege of Qingdao. All four ships were scuttled over the course of the siege, between September and November.

The 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 – United States Naval Gun is the main armament of the Iowa-class battleships and was the planned main armament of the canceled Montana-class battleship.

The 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 – United States Naval Gun is the main armament of the Iowa-class battleships and was the planned main armament of the canceled Montana-class battleship.