SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
History
German Empire
Name	Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
Namesake	William I, German Emperor
Owner	North German Lloyd
Port of registry	Bremen, Germany
Builder	Stettiner Vulcan, Stettin
Laid down	1896
Launched	4 May 1897
Christened	4 May 1897
Maiden voyage	19 September 1897
In service	1897–1914
Out of service	26 August 1914
Refit	1913
Identification	Code letters QGLF 1913: call sign DKW
Fate	Scuttled in battle, 26 August 1914
General characteristics
Class and type	Kaiser-class ocean liner
Tonnage	14,349 GRT, 5,521 NRT
Displacement	24,300 long tons (24,700 t)
Length	649 ft (198 m) overall 627.4 ft (191.2 m) registered
Beam	66.0 ft (20.1 m)
Draft	27 ft 11 in (8.51 m)
Depth	35.8 ft (10.9 m)
Decks	4
Installed power	3,094 NHP, 33,000 ihp (25,000 kW)
Propulsion	2 triple expansion engines 2 screw propellers
Speed	22.5 kn (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph)
Capacity	1,506 passengers
Crew	488
Armament	In World War I 6 × 105 mm (4.1 in) guns 2 × 37 mm (1.5 in) guns

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ("Emperor William the Great") was a German transatlantic ocean liner in service from 1897 to 1914, when she was scuttled in battle. She was the largest ship in the world for a time, and held the Blue Riband until Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania entered service in 1907. The vessel’s career was relatively uneventful, despite a refit in 1913.

The liner was built in Stettin for Norddeutscher Lloyd, and entered service in 1897. She was the first liner to be a Four funnel liner and is considered to be the first "super liner."^[1] The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 for Norddeutscher Lloyd (the others being Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kronprinzessin Cecilie), she marked the beginning of a change in the way maritime supremacy was demonstrated in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.

The ship began a new era in ocean travel and the novelty of having four funnels was quickly associated with size, strength, speed and above all luxury. Quickly established on the Atlantic, she gained the Blue Riband for Germany, a notable prize for the fastest trip from Europe to America which had been previously dominated by the British.

In 1900, she was damaged in a massive and lethal multi-ship fire in the port of New York. She was also in a collision in the French port of Cherbourg in 1906. With the advent of her sister ships, she was modified to an all-third-class ship to take advantage of the lucrative immigrant market travelling to the United States.

Converted into an auxiliary cruiser at the outbreak of World War I, she was given orders to capture and destroy enemy ships. She destroyed several before being defeated in the Battle of Río de Oro by the British cruiser HMS Highflyer and scuttled by her crew, just three weeks after the outbreak of war. Her wreck was discovered in 1952 and partly dismantled.