View source for SS Kaiser Wilhelm II

{{Short description|German-built ocean liner}}
{{other ships|List of ships named Kaiser Wilhelm II}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=June 2008}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= NIE 1905 Steam Navigation - Kaiser Wilhelm II.jpg
|Ship caption= ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'', about 1905
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header= 
|Ship name= *1902: {{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}
*1917: ''Agamemnon''
*1927: ''Monticello''
|Ship namesake= *1902: [[Wilhelm II]]
*1917: [[Agamemnon]]
*1927: [[Monticello]]
|Ship owner= [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]]
|Ship operator= *1917: {{flagicon|US}} [[United States Navy]]
*1927: {{flagicon|US}} [[United States Army]]
|Ship registry= *1903: {{flagicon|German Empire|civil}} [[Ports of Bremen|Bremen]]
|Ship route= Bremen – [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]]
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship builder= [[AG Vulcan Stettin]]
|Ship original cost= 
|Ship yard number= 250
|Ship laid down= 
|Ship launched= 12 August 1902
|Ship completed= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 14 April 1903
|Ship commissioned= into US Navy, 21 August 1917
|Ship decommissioned= from US Navy, August 1919
|Ship out of service= 1914–17, 1919–40
|Ship refit= 
|Ship identification= *1903: [[code letters]] QHNL
*{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|November}}{{ICS|Lima}}
*by 1913: [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] DKM
*1917: [[Naval Registry Identification Number|Naval Registry]] ID-3004
*1917: code letters GQLH
*{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Quebec}}{{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Hotel}}
|Ship fate= scrapped 1940
|Ship notes= 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header= 
|Header caption= 
|Ship class= {{sclass2|Kaiser|ocean liner}}
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|19361}}, {{NRT|6353}}
|Ship displacement= {{convert|25530|LT|t|0|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship length= *{{cvt|706|ft|3|in|abbr=on}} [[Length overall|overall]]
*{{cvt|1|ft|abbr=on}} registered
|Ship beam= {{cvt|72.3|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught= {{convert|29|ft|10|in|1|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth= {{cvt|40.2|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship decks= 4
|Ship power= 4,243 [[Horsepower#Nominal horsepower|NHP]]
|Ship propulsion= *2 × [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|quadruple-expansion engines]]
*2 × [[Propeller|screws]]
|Ship speed= {{convert|23.5|kn|km/h}}
|Ship capacity= passengers: 775 × 1st class, 343 × 2nd class, 770 × 3rd class
|Ship troops=
|Ship crew= 
|Ship complement= 962 officers & enlisted
|Ship armament=*4 × {{convert|6|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns
*2 × [[QF 1-pounder pom-pom|1-pounder gun]]s
*2 × Colt Lewis .30-cal. machine guns
*10 × [[depth charge]]s
|Ship sensors= by 1906: [[Submarine signals|submarine signalling]]
|Ship notes= 
}}
|}

'''SS ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}''''' was a [[Norddeutscher Lloyd]] (NDL) {{sclass2|Kaiser|ocean liner}}. She was launched in 1902 in [[Szczecin|Stettin]], [[German Empire|Germany]]. In the [[World War I|First World War]] she was laid up in New York from 1914 until 1917, when the US Government seized her and renamed her '''USS ''Agamemnon'''''. In 1919 she was decommissioned from the Navy and laid up. In 1927 she was transferred to the [[United States Army]], who renamed her '''USAT ''Monticello'''''. She was scrapped in 1940.

When launched, ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was the largest ship registered in Germany. The weight of her hull and machinery was surpassed only by the British [[White Star Line]]rs {{RMS|Cedric}} and {{RMS|Celtic||2}}.<ref>{{cite journal |title=` |journal=Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers |publisher=Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers |volume=11 |year=1904 |page=318}}</ref> She served NDL's [[Transatlantic crossing|transatlantic]] route between [[Ports of Bremen|Bremen]] and [[Port of New York and New Jersey|New York]]. She won the [[Blue Riband]] in 1904. Her passengers included the composers [[Gustav Mahler]] in 1910 and [[Jean Sibelius]] in 1914.

==Building==
''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was launched at [[Stettin]] on 12 August 1902, in the presence of the [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|German Emperor]], for whom it was named by Miss Wiegand, daughter of [[Heinrich Wiegand]], one of the directors of NDL.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Latest intelligence – the German Emperor |date=13 August 1902 |page=3 |issue=36845}}</ref> She was designed with places to mount guns, allowing her to be converted into an [[Armed merchantman#Auxiliary cruisers|auxiliary cruiser]] for the [[Imperial German Navy]].<ref name=Engineering>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4NJLAAAAYAAJ |date=January 1903 |title=North German Lloyd Steamship Kaiser Wilhem II |journal=Index to Marine Engineering |publisher=Marine Publishing Company |volume=8 |page=27}}</ref>

She had a full [[Double hull|double bottom]]. 16 transverse [[Bulkhead (partition)|bulkheads]] and one longitudinal bulkhead divided her into 26 [[watertight compartments]]. The longitudinal bulkhead separated her two engine rooms. She was designed to remain afloat with any two compartments flooded. 52 watertight doors were distributed between the bulkheads, 24 of which could be closed from the [[Bridge (nautical)|bridge]] via the Dörr mechanism.<ref name=Engineering/>

==Interiors==
The ship had berths for 1,888 passengers: 775 in 290 cabins in First Class, 343 in 102 cabins in Second Class, and 770 in Third Class.<ref name=Engineering/> The two First Class "Imperial" [[State room|suites]] were the finest accommodation aboard, each having a dining room, drawing room, bedroom, and bathroom. There were eight suites with sitting room, bedroom, and bathroom; and another eight cabins with an en suite bathroom.<ref>{{cite journal |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YadHAQAAMAAJ&dq=kaiser+wilhelm+ii+ship&pg=PA679 |title=Another Great Ocean Liner |journal=Current Literature: A Magazine of Record and Review |publisher=Current Literature Publishing Company |volume=34 |year=1903 |page=679}}</ref>

[[Johann Poppe]], who had designed the interiors of {{SS|Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse||2}} and {{SS|Kronprinz Wilhelm||2}}, also designed the interior of ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}''.<ref>{{cite news |url= http://thegreatoceanliners.com/articles/kaiser-wilhelm-ii-ii/ |title=Kaiser Wilhelm II (II) |first=Henrik |last=Ljungström |work=The Great Ocean Liners |access-date=2022-05-31}}</ref> The First Class dining saloon was three decks high and was in Poppe's signature German [[Baroque]] revival style. It was 108 feet long and 69 feet wide, the full beam of the ship. It could seat 554 diners.<ref>{{cite book |last=Wealleans |first=Anne |year=2006 |title=Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat |place=Didcot |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=978-0415374682 |page=38}}</ref> Other First Class amenities included a children's saloon, a typewriting room, smoking room, drawing room, reading and writing room, and two cafés on the bridge deck.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=kawi2 |title=S/S Kaiser Wilhelm II (2), Norddeutscher Lloyd |work=Norway~Heritage |access-date=2022-05-31}}</ref>

==German career==
[[File:First Class Drawing Room (Gesellschaftszimmer) of the Kaiser Wilhelm II.jpg|left|thumb|First Class Drawing Room]]
[[File:Alfred Stieglitz (American - The Steerage - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[The Steerage]]'' by [[Alfred Stieglitz]] ]]
NDL [[Ship registration|registered]] ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' at Bremen. Her [[code letters]] were QHNL.<ref>{{cite book |year=1903 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers. |place=London |publisher=[[Lloyd's Register]] of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1904ST/page/n450/mode/1up |via=[[Internet Archive]] |at=K.}}</ref> She joined her sister ships on NDL's scheduled service between Bremen and New York. In 1904 she won the [[Blue Riband]] for the fastest eastbound crossing of the North Atlantic.

In 1907 [[Alfred Stieglitz]] took a photograph aboard ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' called ''[[The Steerage]]''. It records the crowded conditions in which [[steerage]] passengers, many of them emigrants, traveled on even the largest and most prestigious ocean liners.

In 1906 (after 7 March), in fog outside [[Cherbourg-en-Cotentin|Cherbourg]], ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was reported to have used [[Submarine signals|submarine signalling]] to indicate her presence (''[[Le Matin (France)|Le Matin]]'', ''[[:fr:Nouvelles en trois lignes|Nouvelles en trois lignes]]'': '''Pris dans la brume devant Cherbourg, le K.-Wilhelm-II révéla sa présence par le système nouveau de la cloche sous-marine''<nowiki/>').<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nouvelles en trois lignes - Wikisource |url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Nouvelles_en_trois_lignes |website=fr.wikisource.org |language=fr |access-date=2023-04-15}}</ref>

On 25 February 1909 ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was entering New York in fog as the [[Hamburg America Line]] ship ''{{SS|Prinz August Wilhelm||2}}'' was leaving. At about 07:30 hrs that morning ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was moving slowly in Gedney Channel when she sighted ''{{lang|de|Prinz August Wilhelm}}'' ahead. Both ships took evasive action, and ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' ran aground on a mudbank rather than hit ''{{lang|de|Prinz August Wilhelm}}''. Some of the passengers who saw the incident said that the ships cleared each other by less than {{convert|30|ft|0}}.<ref>{{cite news |title=Liner went aground to avert collision |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=26 February 1909 |page=4 |access-date=18 February 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/02/26/101867766.html?pageNumber=4}}</ref>

By 1910 the ship was equipped with [[wireless telegraphy]].<ref>{{cite book |year=1910 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers. |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1911ST/page/n563/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |at=KAH–KAI}}</ref> By 1913 her wireless [[Maritime call sign|call sign]] was DKM.<ref>{{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1913 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The St Katherine Press |page=238}}</ref>

On 17 June 1914 ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' collided with the {{GRT|3060}} British [[Cargo ship|cargo]] steamship ''Incemore'' in thick fog off [[the Needles]]. The liner's hull was holed below the waterline, but her watertight bulkheads held and she returned to [[Port of Southampton|Southampton]] under her own power.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Fleets of the Mail Lines: Disasters to Mail Steamers |magazine=The Marine Engineer and Naval Architect |date=July 1914 |pages=458–459 |volume=36}}</ref> ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' was westbound on 3–4 August 1914 when Germany declared war on [[French Third Republic|France]] and the [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|United Kingdom]] declared war on Germany. She evaded [[Allies of World War I|Entente]] naval patrols, and reached New York two days later.

==US career==
[[File:SS Kaiser Wilhelm II.jpg|thumb|Postcard of ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'']]
When the US Government declared war on Germany on 6 April 1917, it seized German ships in US-controlled ports, including ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}''. Her German crew had sabotaged her machinery, so she was repaired at [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]], and used as a [[barracks ship]] while being repaired.

Late in August 1917 the US Navy commissioned her as USS ''{{lang|de|Kaiser Wilhelm II}}'' (ID-3004). At the beginning of September she was renamed ''Agamemnon''. At the end of October she entered service, carrying troops to France. At sea on 9 November 1917 she was damaged in a collision with another large ex-German transport, {{USS|Von Steuben|ID-3017|6}}, but completed her crossing to Europe a few days later. After her return to the US in December and subsequent repairs, ''Agamemnon'' steamed to France in mid-January 1918 and thereafter regularly crossed the North Atlantic in support of the [[American Expeditionary Forces]] on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. She occasionally encountered real or suspected [[U-boat]]s. In the fall of 1918 [[Spanish flu]] broke out aboard.

[[File:SS Kaiser Wilhelm II..jpg|thumb|USS ''Agamemnon'']]
In mid-December 1918, just over a month after the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice with Germany]], ''Agamemnon'' began to repatriate US troops from France. She made nine voyages by August 1919, carrying nearly 42,000 service personnel, some four thousand more than she had taken overseas during the war. USS ''Agamemnon'' was [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] late in August and turned over to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]] for use as a US Army Transport. She was laid up after the mid-1920s. In 1927 she was renamed ''Monticello'', but saw no further service. She was considered too old for further use in [[World War II]], and was sold for scrap in 1940.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Kaiser Wilhelm II (ship, 1903)}}
*{{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/agamemnon.html}}
*{{navsource|12/173004|USS Agamemnon (ID-3004)}}
*{{cite web |url= https://www.gjenvick.com/Immigration/Steerage/FellowshipOfTheSteerage-1905.html |title=The Fellowship of the Steerage – 1905 |work=Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archive}}
*{{cite web |url= http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/kwII2.html |title= Kaiser Wilhelm II (II) |work= The Great Ocean Liners |access-date= 30 April 2018 |archive-date= 10 October 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091010111609/http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/kwII2.html |url-status= dead }}

{{s-start}}
{{s-ach|rec}}
{{s-bef|before={{SS|Deutschland|1900|2}}}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Blue Riband|Atlantic Eastbound Record]] |years=1904–1907}}
{{s-aft|after={{RMS|Lusitania|3=2}}}}
{{s-end}}
{{Kaiser class ocean liners}}
{{Norddeutscher Lloyd ships}}
{{Four funnels}}
{{1909 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaiser Wilhelm II, SS}}
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[[Category:1902 ships]]
[[Category:Blue Riband holders]]
[[Category:Four funnel liners]]
[[Category:Kaiser-class ocean liners]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1907]]
[[Category:Ships built in Stettin]]
[[Category:Steamships of Germany]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Unique transports of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:World War I passenger ships of Germany]]