Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ("Emperor William the Great") was a German transatlantic ocean liner in service from 1897 to 1914, when she was scuttled in battle.

She was the largest ship in the world for a time, and held the Blue Riband until Cunard Line’s RMS Lusitania entered service in 1907.

The ship began a new era in ocean travel and the novelty of having four funnels was quickly associated with size, strength, speed and above all luxury.

Quickly established on the Atlantic, she gained the Blue Riband for Germany, a notable prize for the fastest trip from Europe to America which had been previously dominated by the British.

She destroyed several before being defeated in the Battle of Río de Oro by the British cruiser HMS Highflyer and scuttled by her crew, just three weeks after the outbreak of war.

There he saw the strength and size of these British ships, notably the latest and then-largest liner owned by White Star, RMS Teutonic.

[10] Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system when the Marconi Company installed one in February 1900.

[21] Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse set out on her maiden voyage on 19 September 1897, travelling from Bremerhaven to Southampton and thence to New York.

In March 1898,[12] she successfully gained the Blue Riband with an average crossing speed of 22.3 kn (41.3 km/h; 25.7 mph), thus establishing the new German competitiveness.

[22] The Blue Riband, an award given for the fastest crossing of the North Atlantic, east and westbound, had previously been held by the Cunard liner RMS Lucania.

[26] This refit included the installation of wireless telegraphy, then new technology which allowed Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse to transmit telegraphic messages to a port, emphasising her image of security.

The company stated that the four liners were of the renowned Kaiser class and decided to market them as the Four Flyers, a reference to their speed and associations with the Blue Riband.

[29] In June 1900 at her quay in Hoboken, New Jersey, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the victim of a fire which killed one hundred staff who were trying to remove the threat[30] as the ship was towed to safety in the Hudson River.

[5] Six years later, on 21 November 1906, she was in collision with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company liner RMS Orinoco in Cherbourg Harbour.

[32] New York City mayor William Jay Gaynor was embarking on a European vacation when he was shot aboard the ship on 9 August 1910.

[citation needed] From 1908, German naval captains had been receiving orders to make preparations in the event of a sudden war.

[16] Across the world, supply ships carrying weapons and provisions were ready to convert merchant vessels into armed auxiliary cruisers.

As Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse approached the west coast of Africa, her coal bunkers were almost empty and needed refilling.

She stopped at Río de Oro, (Villa Cisneros, former Spanish Sahara) where German and Austrian colliers started the task of refuelling her.

[16] According to the Germans, rather than let the enemy capture the onetime pride of Germany, Reymann ordered the ship to be scuttled using dynamite, which was already in position should this situation ever arise.

This version of events was disputed by the British, who stated that Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had been badly damaged and sinking when Reymann ordered it to be abandoned.

[35] On 6 September 2013, the Salam Association for the Protection of the Environment and Sustainable Development in Morocco captured underwater footage of what was left of the wreck, with the ship's name on the hull visible.