SMS Tiger was the third member of the Iltis class of gunboats built for the German Kaiserliche Marine 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. Tiger, along with Luchs, was armed with a main battery of two 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns, had a top speed of 13.5 knots, and could cruise for more than 2,500 nautical miles.