page_title: SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
hierarchical_section_title: SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
caption_attribution_description: English: The German liner SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse in 1897, full starboard view. Français&#160;: Le paquebot allemand Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse en 1897, année de sa mise en service. 日本語: 客船「カイザー・ウィルヘルム・デア・グローゼ」
context_page_description: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a German transatlantic ocean liner named after Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the first monarch of the German Empire.
  The liner was constructed in Stettin for the North German Lloyd, and entered service in 1897. It was the first liner to have four funnels and is considered to be the first "superliner." The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 by NDL, 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.
context_section_description: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (Ger. orth. Kaiser Wilhelm der Große) was a German transatlantic ocean liner named after Wilhelm I, German Emperor, the first monarch of the (second) German Empire.
  The liner was constructed in Stettin (now Szczecin, Poland) for the North German Lloyd (NDL), and entered service in 1897. It was the first liner to have four funnels and is considered to be the first "superliner." The first of four sister ships built between 1903 and 1907 by NDL (the others being SS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SS Kaiser Wilhelm II and SS 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 dismantled.
caption: SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
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