SS Augusta Victoria (1888)

Augusta Victoria as first launched, about 1890
History
Germany
Name	Augusta Victoria, Auguste Victoria
Namesake	Empress Augusta Victoria
Operator	Hamburg America Line
Builder	Stettiner Maschinenbau AG Vulcan
Launched	1 December 1888
Maiden voyage	10 May 1889
Russia
Name	Kuban
Namesake	Kuban in southern Russia
Owner	Imperial Russian Navy
Acquired	1904
Fate	Broken up in Stettin, 1907
General characteristics
Type	Ocean liner, later auxiliary cruiser
Tonnage	7,661 GRT 1879: 8,479 GRT
Length	144.80 m (475.1 ft) oa 140.5 m (461.0 ft) B.P. 1897: 163.10 m (535.1 ft) oa
Beam	16.90 m (55.4 ft)
Propulsion	2 triple expansion engines, 2 screw propellers
Speed	maximum 18.5 kn (34.3 km/h) 1897: 19 kn (35.2 km/h)
Capacity	400 1st class, 120 2nd class, 580 steerage
Crew	245

Augusta Victoria, later Auguste Victoria, placed in service in 1889 and named for Empress Augusta Victoria, wife of German Emperor Wilhelm II, was the name ship of the Augusta Victoria series and the first of a new generation of luxury Hamburg America Line ocean liners. She was the first liner built in continental Europe with twin propellers and when first placed in service, the fastest liner in the Atlantic trade. In 1897, the ship was rebuilt and lengthened and in 1904 she was sold to the Imperial Russian Navy, which renamed her Kuban.