SMS Prinzess Wilhelm SMS " Prinzess Wilhelm " ( " His Majesty ' s Ship " Princess Wilhelm " " ) was a protected cruiser of the German Imperial Navy ( " Kaiserliche Marine " ) . She was the second ; her only sister ship was . " Prinzess Wilhelm " was laid down in 1886 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel , launched in September 1887 , and commissioned into the fleet in November 1889 . As built , the ship was armed with a main battery of fourteen guns and had a top speed of . In 1895 , " Prinzess Wilhelm " was deployed to East Asian waters , where she frequently served as the flagship of the East Asia Cruiser Division . She was one of the three ships that participated in the seizure of Kiaochou Bay under the command of Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs . She subsequently was present in the Philippines in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Manila Bay between American and Spanish squadrons during the Spanish - American War in 1898 . " Prinzess Wilhelm " returned to Germany in 1899 and was modernized in 1899 – 1903 . She was reduced to a mine hulk in February 1914 and ultimately broken up for scrap in 1922 . Design . " Prinzess Wilhelm " was the second protected cruiser built by the German navy . She was ordered under the contract name " " Ersatz " " and was laid down at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel in 1886 . She was launched on 22 September 1887 , after which fitting - out work commenced . She was commissioned into the German navy on 13 November 1889 . The ship was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward . She displaced at full combat load . Her propulsion system consisted of two horizontal AG Germania 2 - cylinder double - expansion steam engines powered by four coal - fired cylindrical double - boilers . These provided a top speed of and a range of approximately at . She had a crew of 28 officers and 337 enlisted men . The ship was armed with four 15 cm K L / 30 guns in single pedestal mounts , supplied with 400 rounds of ammunition in total . They had a range of . " Prinzess Wilhelm " also carried ten shorter - barreled 15 cm K L / 22 guns in single mounts . These guns had a much shorter range , at . The gun armament was rounded out by six 3 . 7 cm revolver cannon . She was also equipped with three torpedo tube s with eight torpedoes , two launchers were mounted on the deck and the third was in the bow , below the waterline . In 1893 , the ship was modernized in Wilhelmshaven in 1903 ; work lasted until 1905 . The ship ' s armament was significantly improved ; the four L / 30 guns were replaced with a new model with an increased range of . Eight 10 . 5 cm SK L / 35 quick - firing ( QF ) guns were installed in place of the L / 22 guns , and six 5 cm SK L / 10 QF guns were added . Service history . In the first maneuvers of 1890 , the newly commissioned " Prinzess Wilhelm " operated as the opposing force with several old corvette s . In September 1892 , the ship was sent to Genoa to represent Germany in the 400th anniversary of the voyage of Christopher Columbus . She was the only German ship sent to the ceremonies , a result of cooling relations between Germany and Italy at the time . In the 1894 autumn maneuvers , " Prinzess Wilhelm " served as the flagship of a reconnaissance flotilla . In January 1895 , " Prinzess Wilhelm " was dispatched to Asian to reinforce the Cruiser Division stationed there . After she joined her sister in East Asian waters , the Division was reinforced with the rebuilt old ironclad , the light cruiser , the corvette , and the gunboat . In June 1896 , Alfred von Tirpitz took command of the Cruiser Division . By November , " Prinzess Wilhelm " was in bad need of maintenance , as engine problems limited her to half - speed . In June 1897 , Rear Admiral Otto von Diederichs arrived in Asia to take command of the Cruiser Division ; " Prinzess Wilhelm " , " Irene " , and were in Chefoo conducting gunnery training . Diederichs , aboard " Kaiser " , joined the rest of the Division in Chefoo at the end of the month . There , he held a series of ceremonial visits with the captains of each of his ships . On 1 July , Diederichs boarded " Prinzess Wilhelm " to make a visit to the Chinese capital at Peking . There , he attempted to negotiate with the Chinese government to acquire a permanent naval base for the Cruiser Division . Diederichs , who sought the port of Kiaochou , was unsuccessful in his attempt , and so he returned to " Prinzess Wilhelm " on 11 July . While leaving Peking , he examined the Taku Forts that guarded the entrance to Peking . Diederichs returned to the Division on 16 July , after which he conducted a tour of Asian ports with the entire Division . Seizure of Kiaochou . In October , Diederichs planned to rotate his ships through repair facilities in the region for periodic maintenance ; " Prinzess Wilhelm " was scheduled to dock in Shanghai . He requested permission to take " Prinzess Wilhelm " and " Kaiser " to Kiaochou for autumn gunnery training and to leave " Prinzess Wilhelm " stationed there during the winter , which was denied . Diederichs was able to make use of the murder of a pair of German priests on 6 November in Shangtung , however , to justify his move against Kiaochou . At the time , the only ships available for the attack were " Prinzess Wilhelm " and " Kaiser " . " Cormoran " joined the two ships after a few days , and by 10 November , the ships were ready . " Prinzess Wilhelm " left port on the 11th , to rendezvous with " Kaiser " and " Cormoran " at sea . On the night 12 November , the three ships met and formed into line ; the attack was scheduled to begin on the morning of 14 November with a bombardment from the warships . The crews of " Prinzess Wilhelm " and " Kaiser " were to form a landing party to seize the harbor . The flotilla arrived on the morning of the 13th . The following morning , the landing party of some 700 officers and men was landed on the main pier in the harbor . The Chinese were caught completely by surprise , and the Germans secured their objectives within two hours ; Diederichs convinced the Chinese commander , General Chang , to withdraw from Kiaochou . The Imperial flag was raised in the town and " Prinzess Wilhelm " fired a 21 - gun salute . The landing party remained in Kiaochou to garrison the port , and several 3 . 7 cm guns were removed from the ships to provide artillery to the force . Diederichs requested reinforcements from Germany , and the Kaiser authorized a second Division to deploy to the East Asia station . The unit was therefore reorganized as the East Asia Squadron ; " Prinzess Wilhelm " was assigned to the I Division of the Squadron . On 27 November , Diederichs was promoted to Vice Admiral for his success in seizing Kiaochou , and given command of the new Squadron . Chinese forces converged on the port by the end of the month . " Prinzess Wilhelm " and " Kaiser " moved into the harbor to provide artillery support . General Chang , who had been placed under house arrest , was discovered to have been attempting to subvert the German occupation ; Dierderichs therefore placed him under arrest aboard " Prinzess Wilhelm " . A brief skirmish ensued , which quickly resulted in a Chinese rout . On 8 January , a force of 50 men from " Prinzess Wilhelm " s crew was sent to Chi - mo to defend against Chinese raids in the area . The Philippines during the Spanish – American War . In the Spring of 1898 , Prince Heinrich arrived in Asia . While awaiting his arrival , Diederichs planned to rotate his ships through dockyards for periodic maintenance . On 4 May , Diederichs made " Prinzess Wilhelm " his flagship and sent " Kaiser " to Nagasaki and followed the next day , after Prince Heinrich reached Kiaochou . The Spanish – American War had broken out on 25 April and Commodore George Dewey had defeated the Spanish squadron at the Battle of Manila Bay on 1 May . Diederichs planned to use the crisis as an opportunity to seize another base for the Squadron in Asia . Upon arriving in Nagasaki , Diederichs learned the shipyard had not yet completed repairs to " Kaiser " , and so was unable to refit " Prinzess Wilhelm " for some time . He therefore ordered to meet him in Nagasaki , which he would use as his temporary flagship . " Prinzess Wilhelm " and " Kaiser " were to rejoin Diederichs once their repairs were completed . On 20 June , " Prinzess Wilhelm " arrived in the Philippines ; Diederichs now had a force of five warships : " Prinzess Wilhelm " , " Kaiser " , " Irene " , " Kaiserin Augusta " , and " Cormoran " . After her arrival , " Prinzess Wilhelm " proceeded to Mariveles to replenish her coal supplies and receive new crewmen from the transport " Darmstadt " . On 9 August , the American squadron in the Bay ordered the neutral warships in the harbor to leave the bombardment zone , and so " Prinzess Wilhelm " and the other German ships went to Mariveles . Following the fall of the city , most of the German ships departed the Philippines ; only " Prinzess Wilhelm " remained on station to protect German nationals in the islands . She was replaced by " Arcona " in October . In mid - November , " Kaiser " ran aground and had to go into drydock for repairs ; Diederichs therefore made " Prinzess Wilhelm " his flagship . The ship remained in Asia for only a few more months , returning to European waters in 1899 . Fate . After returning to Germany in 1899 , she went into drydock at the Imperial Dockyard in Wilhelmshaven for modernization ; work lasted until 1902 . She was stricken from the naval register on 17 February 1914 and used as a mine hulk . She was initially based in Danzig , but later moved to Kiel and Wilhelmshaven . On 26 November 1921 , " Prinzess Wilhelm " was sold for 909 , 000 Marks . She was broken up the following year in Wilhelmshaven .