Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (1897)

Later names:
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

Builder:
Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan
Stettin, Germany
Ordered:
N/A
Keel Laid:
N/A
Year Built:
1897
Launched:
May 4, 1897
Type:
Passenger
Completed:


September 12, 1897
Fate:

Sunk Aug. 26, 1914 scuttled after gun battle with HMS Highflyer.

Location: North Atlantic off the coast of Rio del Oro, Spanish West Africa (Western Sahara).
(23.34N - 16.02W)

Aprox. 104 crewmen killed, 480 survivors. Hulk scrapped in 1952.



Owner
Norddeutscher Lloyd
(North German Lloyd)
Bremen, Germany


Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
648' 5"
Engines:
2 four cylinder triple expansion
Beam:
66'
Boilers:
14 cylindrical
Draft:
27' 9"
Shafts:
2
Gross Tons:
14,349 (a)
HP:
27,000
DWT:
6,400
Speed:
22 knots (22.29 forced)
Crew:
488 (b)
Funnels:
4
Passengers:
1,749 (c)
Masts:
2
Construction notes
(a):
13,952 after 1913-14 refit.
(b):
584 as Aux. Cruiser
(c):
2,130 after 1913-14 refit.


Captains
From
To
Name
Aug. 2, 1914
Aug. 26, 1914
Fregattenkapitän Max Reymann


Combat Victories
Aug. 7, 1914:
Tubal Cain (captured, crew taken POW, sunk)
Aug. 15, 1914
Galician (captured and released due to high number of women and children)
Aug. 16, 1914:
Kaipara (captured, crew taken POW, sunk)
Aug. 16, 1914:
Nyanga (captured, crew taken POW, sunk)
Aug. 16, 1914:
Arlanza (captured and released due to high number of women and children)


Timeline
Sept. 19, 1897:
Maiden voyage Bremerhaven-Southampton-New York.
June 30, 1900:

At Hoboken, New Jersey when fire broke out at the North German Lloyd Pier.
The fire destroyed the German Liners Saale, Main, Bremen. Kaiser Wilhelm der
Grosse was pulled out by tugs and received little damage. She returned the
surviving passengers and crews of the other ships to Germany.

Nov. 21, 1906:
Collided with the Royal Mail Line's Orinoco in the English Channel off Cherbourg, France.
A British inquiry blamed the excessive speed of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse as the
cause for the collision. Five passengers on the Kasier Wilhelm der Grosse and 3
crewmen of the Orinoco were killed.

1913-14:
Refit to 13,952 grt as an emigrant ship with only 3rd class and steerage
accommodations. Used on Bremerhaven to New York route (direct).

July 21, 1914:
Final departure from New York.
July 1914:
Refitted as Auxiliary Cruiser in Bremerhaven, Germany four 105mm guns installed.

Aug. 2, 1914:
Commissioned into Imperial German Navy
(Operated near the Canary Islands).

Aug. 2, 1914:
Commissioned as Auxiliary cruiser in Imperial German Navy.
Roll of Remembrance
In memory of those who lost their lives in SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

Name
Rate
Nov. 21, 1906
Groiscant, Samuel
Passenger
Koucelik, Anna
Passenger
Muhlbeier, George
Passenger
*
Steurer, Maria
Passenger
age 11
Zimbelmann, Michael
Passenger
*
Died in hospital


Builder's Data
Page published Jan. 8, 2007