Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse EMIGRANT Ship Photo 1897-1914 *** First Passenger Ship Sunk During World War I *** Start Price USD 350.00 Current Price USD 350.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, November 13, 2008 End Time Saturday, December 13, 2008 Location South Florida See more about 'Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse EMIGRANT Ship Photo 1897-1914' Description RARE Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse EMIGRANT Ship Photo This Photo was found among Estate Items of L.A. Daubek of Scarsdale New York and Jennie M. Foster and Robert Foster, Jennie may have been Daubek's daughter, or there was also a Jennie Daubek so it may have been a second marriage I am not sure. I am not sure of the photo type, it comes on a matted card. There is a second photo attached on the bottom right cornor of the main photo, of a man and woman may be from the "old country". The photo measures about 6 3/8 inch across and 4 3/8 inch high, measured through matted picture frame. It is missing a small piece on the upper left cornor and has 2 creases on the upper right. There is also a line on the left from the top between the man and woman. The closed matted card measures 10 5/8 by 7 1/2 inch. I took alot of pictures, you can supersize them to get the best look!! Please email me if you have any other questions. I have other items listed from this estate, from the time they had Real Estate Holdings in the USA. Free Shipping to US Bidders / Locations !! The following information was from Wikipedia SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse Career   Owner: Norddeutscher Lloyd Builder: Stettiner Vulcan, Stettin Laid down: 1896 Launched: May 4, 1897 Christened: May 4, 1897 Maiden voyage: September 19, 1897 Fate: sunk (scuttled) after fighting HMS Highflyer August 26, 1914 Career Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse arrived at New York. Envelope of a menu card; contains the menu for dinner on April 13, 1900 aboard the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse She was built by Vulcan shipyards in Stettin and launched on 4 May 1897. She made her maiden voyage on 19 September of that year, from Bremerhaven to New York. In November 1897, she set an eastbound North Atlantic crossing record from Sandy Hook to the Needles, and four months later she captured the westbound Blue Riband, taking it from Cunard's Lucania. She held these records until Hapag's Deutschland took the eastbound record in July 1900 and the westbound one in September 1903. The fact that German ships took over this famed prize eventually led the British to build their Mauretania and Lusitania duo. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system when the Marconi Company installed one in February 1900. Communications were demonstrated with systems installed at the Borkum Island lighthouse and Borkum Riff lightship 30 km northwest of the island, as well as with British stations. The ship was also the first liner to have four funnels, which would become a symbol of safety and prestige. Like many four-funneled liners, Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse did not actually require that many. She had only two uptake shafts from the boiler rooms, which then each branched into two to connect to the four funnels- this design is the reason for the funnels being unequally spaced. The ship escaped a massive fire at NDL's Hoboken, New Jersey, piers in June 1900, which badly damaged her running mates, Main, Bremen and Saale, and killed 161 crewmen on those ships. Six years later, in November 1906, she was struck broadside while trying to cross in front of the Royal Mail's Orinoco; five passengers on Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse were killed by the impact and a hole 21 meters (70 ft) wide by 8 meters (26 ft) high was ripped into her hull. An Admiralty Court found the accident to be entirely attributable to Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. In 1914 she was modified to take 3rd and 4th class fares only, in order to make the most of the large demand for emigrant passages from Europe to North America. World War I In August 1914 the ship was requisitioned by the Kaiserliche Marine and converted into an auxiliary cruiser, assigned to commerce raiding in the Atlantic. She was fitted with six 10.5 cm (4 inch) guns and two 37 mm guns. After sparing two passenger ships because they were carrying many women and children, she sank two freighters before she herself was sunk on August 26, 1914. She was caught refuelling off the shore of the then Spanish colony of Rio de Oro in western Africa by the old British 6-inch gunned cruiser HMS Highflyer. Badly outgunned, the ship eventually ran out of ammunition. The crew abandoned and scuttled her. British sources at the time insisted that Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse sank because of the damage inflicted by Highflyer. Whatever the cause, she was the first passenger ship sunk during World War I. Place a Bid!