SS Kaiser Wilhelm II

Kaiser Wilhelm II, about 1905
History
Name
  • 1902: Kaiser Wilhelm II
  • 1917: Agamemnon
  • 1927: Monticello
Namesake
OwnerNorddeutscher Lloyd
Operator
Port of registry1903: German Empire Bremen
RouteBremen – New York
BuilderAG Vulcan Stettin
Yard number250
Launched12 August 1902
Commissionedinto US Navy, 21 August 1917
Decommissionedfrom US Navy, August 1919
Maiden voyage14 April 1903
Out of service1914–17, 1919–40
Identification
Fatescrapped 1940
General characteristics
Class and typeKaiser-class ocean liner
Tonnage19,361 GRT, 6,353 NRT
Displacement25,530 long tons (25,940 t)
Length
  • 706 ft 3 in (215.27 m) overall
  • 1 ft (0.30 m) registered
Beam72.3 ft (22.0 m)
Draught29 ft 10 in (9.1 m)
Depth40.2 ft (12.3 m)
Decks4
Installed power4,243 NHP
Propulsion
Speed23.5 knots (43.5 km/h)
Capacitypassengers: 775 × 1st class, 343 × 2nd class, 770 × 3rd class
Complement962 officers & enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems
by 1906: submarine signalling
Armament

SS Kaiser Wilhelm II was a Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) Kaiser-class ocean liner. She was launched in 1902 in Stettin, Germany. In the 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, 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 Liners RMS Cedric and Celtic.[1] She served NDL's transatlantic route between Bremen and New York. She won the Blue Riband in 1904. Her passengers included the composers Gustav Mahler in 1910 and Jean Sibelius in 1914.

  1. ^ "`". Transactions of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. 11. Society of Naval Architects & Marine Engineers: 318. 1904.