Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

[Shelley Dziedzic]

Thanks for that link, it's an excellent web site I had not known about. There's a heartrending photo of the old Mauretania gutted at the breakers with just scraps of her beautiful stern left that I'd never seen. Some excellent photos seldom seen published- took some time to view 'em all.

 

[Jason D. Tiller]

An excellent website, indeed. Thanks for the link, Jon.

 

[Jon_dalbyball]

Anyone have any information on the wreck of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse from 1897 which was sunk during WW1 ? Has it ever been found ? Was wondering what was left of the wreck - for some reason I am always more interested/drawn to the 4 funneled liners.
Many thanks
Jon.

 

[Zack Wyatt]

It's a good thing the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse was the first ocean liner to have 4 funnels, otherwise, the Titanic and Lusitania would not have had that many!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>It's a good thing the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse was the first ocean liner to have 4 funnels, otherwise, the Titanic and Lusitania would not have had that many!<<

Why not?

 

[Jon_dalbyball]

>>It's a good thing the Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse was the first ocean liner to have 4 funnels, otherwise, the Titanic and Lusitania would not have had that many!<<

I think maybe it set a trend. Britain and Germany were always competing. Was the Mauretania and Lusitania not Britain's answer to those 1st few german 4 funnelled liners ? Then White Stars answer to Cunards Mauretania and Lusitania were the Olympic class. That said maybe it had nothing to do with the number of funnels - but you could be correct. I see where your coming from

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>Was the Mauretania and Lusitania not Britain's answer to those 1st few german 4 funnelled liners ?<<

They were, but it's not quite as simple as you might think. The problem here is that Germany had the fast and fashionable ships and Morgan's IMM trust was trying to make some inroads on British shipping. The Cunard greyhounds were as much a part of the effort to keep a respected British line in British hands as it was to stop J.P. Morgan from taking over.

Fashion was a factor and that's a fair point to make but in the end, it was all about the money. Cunard and White Star wouldn't have spent a penny on fashion if it didn't fill the berths, and they weren't about to fill the berths if their ships were not faster, more comfortable, or both.

 

[Andrea Cuoghi]

After studying the original blueprints and the newspaper pics taken from the journalists aboard SS Galician i finally managed to draw an accurate 2d drawing of the SMS Kaiser Wilhem der Grosse during her raiding career in WW1 as auxiliary cruiser

and the 1905 commercial livery: