| The steamship KAISER WILHELM DER GROßE [GROSSE] was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by AG Vulcan, Stettin (yard #234), and was launched on 4 May 1897. 14,349 tons; 197,7 x 20,1 meters (length x breadth); 4 funnels, 2 masts; twin-screw propulsion (triple-expansion engines), 28,000 hp, coal consumption 560 tons a day, service speed 22.5 knots; accommodation for 332 passengers in 1st class, 343 in 2nd class, 1,074 in steerage (1901: 400 in 1st class, 350 in 2nd class, 800 in steerage). The KAISER WILHELM DER GROßE was the first 4-funnel ship, from the time of her launch until 1899 the largest, and in 1898 the fastest merchant ship in the world; in 1898, she carried 24 per cent of the First Class passenger revenue on the North Atlantic to New York. 19 September 1897, maiden voyage, Bremen - Southampton - New York - Plymouth - Bremen. March 1898, record passage from The Needles to Sandy Hook, in 5 days, 15 hours, 46 minutes (average speed, 22,46 knots). 1900, first German ship to have a Marconi Wireless installation. June 1900, released from the burning Norddeutscher Lloyd pier at Hoboken almost undamaged. 21 November 1906, collided at Cherbourg with the Royal Mail steamship ORINOCO, whose clipper bow tore a starboard foreward hole; 3 sailors died on the ORINOCO, 5 passengers on the KAISER WILHELM DER GROßE. 26 January -1 March 1907, cruise, New York-Mediterranean (only cruise by a Norddeutscher Lloyd "four-stacker" with paying passengers). 25 May 1907, lost her rudder on the passage from New York to Plymouth. 12 December 1910, returned from New York on one propeller at 17.5 knots, the other having been lost off Newfoundland on the outward passage. Winter 1913/14, rebuilt as an express emigrant carrier; 13,592 tons, accommodation for 630 passengers in 3rd class and 1,500 in steerage. 18 March 1914, final voyage, Bremen-New York direct (called at Plymouth and Cherbourg on the return passage). 2-4 August 1914, fitted out in Bremerhaven as a merchant cruiser. Sank three ships and stopped the British passenger ships GALICIAN and ARLANZA, which were allowed to proceed. 26 August 1914, off Rio de Oro, Spanish West Africa, overtaken by the British cruiser HMS HIGHFLYER. After a 90-minute battle, the KAISER WILHELM DER GROßE ran out of ammunition, and although not badly damaged she was scuttled by her crew. The wreck was not dismantled until 1952. The ship's bell was given to the German government, which passed it on to Norddeutscher Lloyd. The KAISER WILHELM DER GROßE was top-heavy, and was known to her regular passengers as "Rolling Billy". The type of cargo she carried affected her performance: the most lively and preferred cargo to New York was full barrels of beer, the empty barrels going home. Sources: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), pp. 66-67 (photograph); Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), pp. 171-172 (photographs); Arnold Kludas, Die grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; Eine Dokumentation, Bd. 1: 1858-1912 (2nd ed.; Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1972), pp. 54-55 (photograph); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 2 (1978), p. 560; William H. Miller, Jr., The First Great Ocean Liners in Photographs; 193 Views, 1897-1927 (New York: Dover, 1984), pp. 2-5, 80-81 (photographs). |
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