S. S. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

Orans Family

Regina and her son, Ury Orans, traveled to America on board the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse of the North German Lloyd Line. They arrived in New York on March 2, 1910.

KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE
Norddeutscher Lloyd ship "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse", built in 1897 by the Vulkan yard at Stettin, she was at the time the largest ship afloat. Her dimensions were 13592 tons gross, length 627.4ft, beam 66ft, depth 35.8ft and she had a speed of over 22 knots. There was accommodation for 590 1st, 370 2nd and 800 steerage class passengers. She had a straight stem, two masts and four funnels. She sailed from Bremerhaven via Southampton to NY and held the transatlantic speed record at the time. In 1914 she was taken over by the German admiralty and fitted out as a commerce raider with a naval crew. She sank two British vessels and then rendezvoused with three colliers to refuel at the Spanish West African port of Rio de Oro. After refusing the Spanish governor's requests to leave, she was caught there by the cruiser HMS Highflyer which ordered her to leave, and on her refusal, sank her in port..
Posted to the Emigration-Ships Mailing List by Ted Finch - 16 June 1997.

The steamship KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by AG Vulcan, Stettin (ship #234), and launched on 4 May 1897. 14,349 tons; 197,7 x 20,1 meters (length x breadth); 4 funnels, 2 masts; twin-screw propulsion (triple-expansion engines), 28,000 horsepower, coal consumption 560 tons a day, service speed 22.5 knots; passenger accommodation: 332 in 1st class, 343 in 2nd class, 1,074 in steerage (1901: 400 in 1st class, 350 in 2nd class, 800 in steerage). The KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE was the first 4-funnel ship, from the time of her launch until 1899 the largest, and in 1898 the fastest ship in the world; in 1898, she carried 24 per cent of the First Class passenger revenue on the North Atlantic to New York. 19 September 1897, maiden voyage, Bremen-Southampton-New York- Plymouth-Bremen. March 1898, record passage from The Needles to Sandy Hook, in 5 days, 15 hours, 46 minutes (average speed, 22,46 knots). 1900, first German ship to have a Marconi Wireless installation. June 1900, released from the burning Norddeutscher Lloyd pier at Hoboken almost undamaged. 21 November 1906, collided at Cherbourg with the Royal Mail steamship ORINOCO, whose clipper bow tore a starboard foreward hole; dead on both vessels. 26 January-1 March 1907, cruise, New York-Mediterranean (only cruise by a Norddeutscher Lloyd "four-stacker" with paying passengers). 25 May 1907, lost her rudder on the passage from New York to Plymouth. 12 December 1910, returned from New York on one propeller at 17.5 knots, the other having been lost off Newfoundland on the outward passage. Winter 1913/14, rebuilt as an express emigrant carrier; 13,592 tons, passenger accommodation: 630 in 3rd class, 1,500 in steerage. 18 March 1914, final voyage, Bremen-New York direct (called at Plymouth and Cherbourg on the return passage). 2-4 August 1914, fitted out in Bremerhaven as a merchant cruiser. Sank three ships and stopped the British passenger ships GALICIAN and ARLANZA, which were allowed to proceed. 26 August 1914, off Rio de Oro, Spanish West Africa, overtaken by the British cruiser HMS HIGHFLYER. After a 90-minute battle, the KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE ran out of amunition, and although not badly damaged she was scuttled by her crew. The wreck was not dismantled until 1952. The ship's bell was given to the German government, which passed it on to Norddeutscher Lloyd. The KAISER WILHELM DER GROSSE was top-heavy, and was known to her regular passengers as "Rolling Billy". The type of cargo she carried affected her performance: the most lively and preferred cargo to New York was full barrels of beer, the empty barrels going home.
Posted to the Emigration-Ships Mailing List by Michael Palmer - 11 June 1998.

Sources: Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), pp. 171-172 (photographs); Arnold Kludas, Die grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; Eine Dokumentation, Bd. 1: 1858-1912 (2nd ed.; Oldenburg/ Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1972), pp. 54-55 (photograph); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 2 (1978), p. 560. Also pictured in Clas Broder Hansen, Passenger liners from Germany, 1816-1990, translated from the German by Edward Force (West Chester, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Pub., c1991), p. 63.


	Wilhelm der Grosse (in German). Excellent photographs including interior views.

	Great Ocean Liners: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse

	Lost Liners: Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse.

	They Came in Ships

	Family History Atlas

	Orans Family Index

	Szapiro Family Index

	Rjawsky-Matz Family Index

	Family History Web Home Page

Feedback, comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Please write to: Lewis P. Orans