 Prinzess Wilhelm
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 German Empire | |
| Name | SMS Prinzess Wilhelm |
| Namesake | Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein |
| Builder | Germaniawerft, Kiel |
| Laid down | May 1886 |
| Launched | 22 September 1887 |
| Commissioned | 13 November 1889 |
| Reclassified | Mine hulk in 1914 |
| Stricken | 17 February 1914 |
| Fate | Broken up in 1922 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Irene-class protected cruiser |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 103.7 m (340 ft) oa |
| Beam | 14.2 m (47 ft) |
| Draft | 6.74 m (22.1 ft) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 18 knots (33.3 km/h) |
| Range | 2,490 nmi (4,610 km; 2,870 mi) at 9 kn (17 km/h; 10 mph) |
| Complement |
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| Armament |
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| Armor |
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SMS Prinzess Wilhelm ("His Majesty's Ship Princess Wilhelm")[a] was a protected cruiser of the German Imperial Navy (Kaiserliche Marine). She was the second Irene-class cruiser; her only sister ship was SMS Irene. Prinzess Wilhelm[b] was laid down in 1886 at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, launched in September 1887, and commissioned into the fleet in November 1889. The cruiser was named after Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein, first wife of Kaiser Wilhem II. As built, the ship was armed with a main battery of fourteen 15 cm (5.9 in) guns and had a top speed of 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).
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 the Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory 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.
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