Transatlantic liner Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. Ivan Vladimirovich Kudishin Liners at war
© Kudishin I.V., 2017
© Yauza Publishing House LLC, 2017
© Publishing House Eksmo LLC, 2017
Almost every naval historian has comprehensive information about all the capital warships of the past century, but if the conversation turns to passenger or cruise ships, then apart from the name, the owner company and sometimes some fragmentary information about the participation of a particular vessel in hostilities, it is very difficult to obtain any information. The exception is the Titanic, about which everything or almost everything is known through the efforts of filmmakers. Which is not surprising - the active life of this unfortunate ship was reduced to four days. It was the shortest career of a liner in the history of passenger steam shipping. And if you ask yourself what is interesting in the civilian service of a ship serving a regular route, then the answer is quite simple. This is primarily a routine, monotonous work, common to all vehicles– from a truck or rail car to an air or ocean liner, only occasionally, by chance, violated by some striking fact of the biography.
But in the event of a military conflict, passenger ships began to live a completely different life. They were converted into raiders, military transports, floating hospitals, after which handsome men created for purely peaceful transportation - passenger steamers began with one or another success to perform functions unusual for themselves. Some succeeded in this, adding military awards to peaceful titles and glory, while others found not glory, but death. But in any case, military adventures passenger ships in the twentieth century - a topic little disclosed and very interesting. In this book, an attempt was made to eliminate the information "vacuum" that has formed in this area of the history of the fleet, giving details of the biographies of some passenger ships that gained fame and fame during the wars of the twentieth century.
"The Crowned Family" goes to war
Surely military glory was not at all included in the plans of the leadership of the famous German shipping company North German Lloyd, when in 1900 she ordered a new four-pipe speed liner from the Vulkan shipyard in Stettin (now the Polish city of Szczecin). In accordance with the loyal traditions of the company, the new ship was named “Kronprinz Wilhelm” even before the laying, in honor of one of the representatives of the royal house of Hohenzollern that ruled Germany. The new transatlantic liner was supposed to strengthen the prestige of Germany on the European-American line, won with blood by the first-born - the North German Lloyd's speedboat, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse steamer built in 1897, which took away the prestigious Atlantic Blue Ribbon prize from the British. In addition, the construction of the Kronprinz was supposed to confound Lloyd's rivals in Germany - the transatlantic company Hamburg - America Line, whose four-pipe outrunner Deutschland took away the Blue Ribbon from Big Willy, as they dubbed Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse his numerous admirers. Despite the fact that Deutschland's economic data was kept secret, it was no secret to anyone that the new "ribbon carrier", built with huge government subsidies, was too voracious to be profitable, but it was the bearer of German national prestige. on the Atlantic.
In order not to fall into the same mistake as the Hamburg competitors, the North German Lloyd company used on its new liner two relatively economical quadruple expansion steam engines with a total capacity of about 36,000 hp. with., working on two screws. Steam for the machines was supplied by 12 single-furnace and 4 double-furnace boilers located in four boiler rooms. Each of them had an individual chimney. Naturally, a large amount of coal was required for boiler furnaces - with a run of top speed(23 knots) "Kronprinz Wilhelm" consumed about 500 tons of fuel per day. For comparison, however, the competing liner "Deutschland" had a daily coal consumption of up to 1200 tons. The chief designer of the ship was the famous shipbuilder Robert Zimmerman, who had extensive experience in designing passenger ships, the author of the Big Willy project.
The only one that has survived to this day transatlantic liner"Queen Mary"
"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in New York before the war
In terms of its architecture, Kronprinz Wilhelm generally repeated its older brother, Big Willy - it had the same low silhouette, a straight knife-shaped stem, a cruising stern with an overhang, an elongated superstructure from the forecastle to the very aft overhang and four pipes combined into two closely spaced pairs. At the same time, in addition to installing more modern machines, the liner had a displacement of 600 tons (14,908 tons) compared to the Big Willy and was 3.05 m (202.1 m) longer.
Despite the close size and displacement, the Kronprinz Wilhelm was, compared to the Big Willy, a quite cost-effective and capacious ship - the ship could carry 367 passengers of the first, 340 of the second and 1054 of the third class. Considering the fact that the basis of the profitability of a transatlantic liner at the beginning of the last century was precisely the third, emigrant class, and Big Willie could carry several fewer passengers third class with a more voracious power plant, economic calculation in the construction of the "Kronprinz" prevailed over the indispensable desire to become the king of speed in the vastness of the Atlantic. The cabins of the first two classes were distinguished by the presence of large windows and portholes, were much lighter and made in a much less ponderous style than the “primordial Teutonic” spirit that reigned in the cabins and salons of the Big Willy. Thus, the specialists of the North German Lloyd received at their disposal a very balanced transatlantic liner in economic terms and attractive to the public with any income.
Like any speed liner being built at that time, the Kronprinz Wilhelm should have been able to act as an auxiliary cruiser in case of war. For this purpose, reinforcements were provided on the forecastle and superstructure of the vessel for the installation of artillery pieces, and the most vulnerable parts of the hull, in particular, boiler rooms and engine room received constructive protection. For the storage of ammunition in the immediate vicinity of the reinforcements for the guns, special storage facilities were provided, which, in the event of conversion into a warship, were converted into artillery cellars. In addition, there were innovations in the design of the new liner, although not directly related to its potential military purpose, they were very useful when converted into an auxiliary cruiser. These included, in particular, the presence of an extensive telephone network that provides good communication between the bridge and most posts throughout the ship, a radio room equipped with the latest technology, which, by the way, had 4 mm steel walls and a roof, as well as very voluminous refrigerators, which could provide the crew of the auxiliary cruiser with quality food for several months.
The liner made its first flight from Bremen to New York in September 1901. And on one of its subsequent flights, exactly a year later, in September 1902, the Kronprinz Wilhelm took the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic from the Deutschland. Upon arrival in New York, the liner had a rather unpresentable appearance - powerful waves through which the Kronprinz was going without slowing down, tore off the paint from its bow. But even this was perceived by the public as battle scars and only increased the prestige of the new ship and its owners. "Kronprinz Wilhelm" became one of the most popular liners of the Atlantic. Working on schedule, the steamer crossed the ocean in five and a half days.
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Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse(German SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse - Emperor Wilhelm the Great listen)) is a German transatlantic liner owned by the shipping company North German Lloyd. The lead ship of the Kaiser type, consisting of 4 sister spikes - in addition to the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, also the Crown Prince Wilhelm, Kaiser Wilhelm II and Crown Princess Caecilia. Named after the first emperor of the German Empire, Wilhelm. The ship became famous for being the first German ship to win the Atlantic Blue Ribbon.
She took her maiden voyage on 19 September of that year, from Bremerhaven to New York. In November 1897, he set a speed record in crossing the North Atlantic, going west to east, and four months later the liner intercepted the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic and westward, taking it away from the British liner of the Cunard Line company "Lucania". He held records until in July 1900 the HAPAG liner "Deutschland" beat him in eastbound and heading west in September 1903. The fact that the German ships took away this famous prize ultimately prompted Great Britain to build their own fast duo - Lusitania and Mauritania.
"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system installed when the company Marconi equipped the ship in February 1900.
The ship was also the first four-pipe liner. It is the four pipes that will become a sign of the prestige and safety of the courts. But unlike later four-pipe liners, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had only two boiler shafts, which bifurcated at the top. This is the reason for the location of the pipes at unequal intervals. Although, like many other four-pipe liners, he did not need so many pipes. Two would be enough.
The ship escaped a massive fire off the North German Lloyd's Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1900, which severely damaged her line companions, the Mine, the Bremen, and the Saale. 161 crew members died on those ships.
In August 1914, the ship was requisitioned by the Kaiser fleet and converted into
"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" at sea.
The beginning of the war was approaching and "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" put on a military uniform. At the end of July 1914, at the North German Lloyd shipyard, he received 6 - 105 / 40 mm guns and a couple of small revolving guns. Spectacular peacetime livery - black hull, white superstructures and yellow pipes - was replaced by a gloomy gray-black camouflage. It should be noted that the Germans, following the established tradition, installed guns in pairs on the auxiliary cruisers, as well as on the light cruisers of the navy, on the starboard and port sides. In the Russian fleet, the Varyag can serve as an example of such an arrangement of artillery. The explanation for the apparently rather strange location of the artillery is very simple. Although in a battle on parallel courses the ship lost 2-3 guns in a side salvo, such a scheme ensured the concentration of the maximum number of guns in any sector of the horizon, which was of great importance in solo navigation.
On August 4, 1914, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, under the command of an experienced officer, frigate captain Max Reimann, left the mouth of the Weser and rushed north. First, he pressed against the Norwegian coast, then in a wide arc rounded the Shetland Islands and went out into the open ocean. The noose of the English blockade had not yet been tightened tightly, and such a breakthrough was not too difficult. On August 7, Reimann ran into the British trawler Tuban Kasta northeast of Iceland and sank her. This ship could report a raider's breakthrough, so it could not be released.
Maritime communications in the area canary islands only the obsolete British cruisers Highflyer and Vinidictive patrolled, so it was possible to profit well there. Many steamships called at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, so Reimann had only to wait a little, and the rich booty itself would come into his hands.
However, the commander of the ship was constantly tormented by one problem - coal. The furnaces of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse were voracious; the coal stock taken in Germany (3950 tons) was rapidly melting. To maintain a speed of 17 knots, 350 tons were burned daily
On August 15, when the coal supply on the liner was already beginning to come to an end, he captured the British steamer Galician, which was en route from Cape Town to London. The raider's radio operator intercepted a radio message from the ship, which asked if it was possible to calmly approach the island. Reimann ordered his radio operator to reply that he would meet the steamer and escort him to port. But when the ships met at sea, the Englishman received a much less pleasant radio message: “Stop immediately. Don't use the radio or I'll drown you."
A German boarding party boarded the prize and found that the Galician was carrying 250 passengers, many of whom were women and children. Reimann acted chivalrously - the next morning he released the captured steamer. But just a couple of hours later, he met the ship "Kaipara" with a cargo of New Zealand meat. He was heading to the port for coal. After the stock of meat on board the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was replenished, and the Kaipara team occupied the premises for prisoners, the prize was sunk. True, the raider had to use up 53 precious 105-mm shells.
Encouraged by these successes, Reimann headed southwest. In the afternoon, smoke was seen on the horizon. Soon a large steamer appeared, heading towards the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. Reimann decided that this was a British ship, and was already looking forward to new profits. But the ship "Arlanza" had on board 335 women and more than 100 children, and she, too, had to be released.
Late in the evening on the same day, August 16, the Nyanga steamer was met, sailing to England from South Africa. Having escorted her team to the premises for prisoners and taking everything that could be useful from the ship, the Germans sank it with explosive charges. Since the shortage of coal was already threatening, Reimann needed the help of the “stage system”. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" headed for the coast of the African colony of Spain, Rio de Oro (now Western Sahara), where a rendezvous with the steamships "Arucas" and "Duala" was scheduled for August 21, although this was a violation of Spanish neutrality. The first collier came out to meet with the raider from Tenerife, the second from Las Palmas. Both ships were assigned to the North African stage. Soon the Magdeburg steamer joined the raider and coal miners. Began reloading on the former liner a large number coal, food and fresh water.
The local Spanish authorities, with some delay, became interested in what was happening. But Reimann used a tried and true trick. He stated that his machines were out of order and required a bulkhead, and the coal miners simply came to the rescue. Although the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was now camouflaged, its crew still sported North German Lloyd uniforms. So the Spanish officials believed the hoax, or at least pretended to believe it.
Loading of coal was rather lazy. It was still going on when, before noon on August 26, the raider's observers spotted a warship. As he got closer, 3 trumpets and the British flag became visible. It was an armored English cruiser of the 2nd class. " Highflyer "("Highflyer").
Cruiser "Highflyer"
It was already an old ship built in 1899. In 1914, she was transferred to training ships, but after the outbreak of war, the cruiser began to patrol in the ocean. It was armed with 11 - 152-mm old-style guns, which did not exceed the range of the guns of the German raider. But British shells weighed much more. In addition, it was a duel between a warship and huge liner built according to the norms of civil shipbuilding.
If the meeting took place in the ocean and the liner had steam in all boilers, Reimann had a chance to simply break away from the enemy. "Highflyer" and better times did not develop more than 20 knots, and the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse could give 22 knots. But the anchored raider kept steam only for 14 knots. Reimann ordered to raise steam in all boilers. At the same time, he firmly believed that the British would strictly observe Spanish neutrality and continued loading coal.
From 12:45 to 13:15, a signal dialogue took place between the commanders of the Highflyer and the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. The British commander offered Reimann to surrender the ship, which, of course, was refused. Reimann decided to fight at anchor. In order to avoid unnecessary losses (he did not doubt the outcome of the battle), he ordered the personnel not engaged in combat posts to switch to coal miners. The British prisoners were evacuated to the Arucas collier.
The British opened fire first at 13:16, despite civilian ships standing at the side of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse. One of the first volleys of the British hit the Magdeburg collier. Reimann ordered to cut off the mooring lines and open fire.
Auxiliary cruiser "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" is fighting.
The coal miners took to their heels. The fourth German salvo hit the target. Since the artillery duel was fought at the maximum distance for the guns of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, due to the high elevation angle, the recoilers did not work for the bow guns. The distance was shortening, the shells hit the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse more and more often. He received 10 hits, one of which was fatal, despite the fact that the English shells did not explode. Vitality "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" did not lose, but with two hits the bow hold was flooded. Shells were stored in this hold. When, at about 14:50) the artillery officer reported that the shells were running low, Reimann ordered a ceasefire and the ship was to be scuttled. This was done by detonating 12 pre-laid demolition cartridges, as well as opening the drainage clinkets, the cones of the return valves of which were removed.
The death of "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse"
When the ship began to lie down on the port side and the wounded were removed from it, the commander ordered to leave it. At 16.20 the raider fell aboard and sank in shallow water. Its starboard side rose above the water. In 1952, "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" was dismantled for metal.
"Scuttled" Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse "
Reimann, 9 officers and 72 sailors reached the shore in boats, found the nearest Spanish post and surrendered. They were later taken to Las Palmas and interned aboard a German ship stationed there. Nearly 400 people were taken by the Betania collier, which was spinning nearby during the battle. He went to the United States, but was captured by the armored cruiser Essex and only reached Jamaica. "Arucas" and "Duala" immediately after the start of the battle at full speed rushed to the north, carrying away the captured teams of "Kaipara" and "Nyanga".
Losses on both sides were minimal. The British lost 1 man killed and 6 wounded, the losses of the Germans remained unknown. It can be assumed that the losses of the Germans are about 100 people, since out of a theoretical crew of 584 people, about 480 escaped.
The frigate-captain M. Reimann subsequently reported that the behavior of his crew in battle was impeccable.
Those didn't give up.
And the poem of the Austrian poet R. Greinze, which became (in translation) the words of the most famous song, is quite suitable for the German sailors who entered into this unequal battle:
Auf Deck, Kameraden, all" auf Deck!
Heraus zur letzten Parade!
Der stolze Warjag ergibt sich nicht,
Wir brauchen keine Gnade!
An den Masten die bunten Wimpel empor,
Die klirrenden Anker gelichtet,
In sturmischer Eil' zum Gefechte klar
Die blanken Geschütze gerichtet!
Aus dem sichern Hafen hinaus in die See,
Furs Vaterland zu sterben
Dort lauern die gelben Teufel auf uns
Und speien Tod und Verderben!
Es dröhnt und kracht und donnert und zischt,
Da trifft es uns zur Stelle;
Es ward der Warjag, das treue Schiff,
Zu einer brennenden Holle!
Rings zuckende Leiber and grauser Tod,
Ein Ächzen, Röcheln und Stöhnen —
Die Flammen um unser Schiff
Wie feuriger Rosse Mähnen!
Lebt wohl, Kameraden, lebt wohl, hurra!
Hinab in die gurgelnde Tiefe!
Wer hätte es gestern noch gedacht,
Dass er heut` schon da drunten schliefe!
Kein Zeichen, kein Kreuz wird, wo wir ruh'n
Fern von der Heimat, melden -
Doch das Meer das rauschet auf ewig von uns,
Von Warjag und seinen Helden!
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | |
|---|---|
| SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | |
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | |
| Flag | German Empire German Empire |
| Vessel class and type | passenger ship |
| Home port | Bremen |
| Organization | North German Lloyd |
| Operator | North German Lloyd |
| Manufacturer | "A.G. Vulcan Stettin" |
| Launched into the water | May 4th |
| Commissioned | September 19 |
| Withdrawn from the Navy | August, 26th |
| Status | sunk, salvaged, scrapped for metal 1952 |
| Main characteristics | |
| Displacement | 14,349 GRT |
| Length | 198 |
| Width | 20,1 |
| Draft | 8,3 |
| Engines | two triple expansion steam engines |
| Power | 33,000 HP |
| mover | 2 screws |
| travel speed | 22.35 knots |
| Crew | 488 |
| Passenger capacity | 1506 passengers |
SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse(“Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse” in German - Emperor Wilhelm the Great) is a German transatlantic liner owned by the North German Lloyd shipping company. Named after the first emperor of the German Empire, Wilhelm. The ship became famous for being the first German ship to win the Atlantic Blue Ribbon.
Career
Construction, launching, maiden voyage
Later career
"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" became the first liner to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system installed when the company Marconi equipped the ship in February 1900.
The ship was also the first four-pipe liner. It is the four pipes that will become a sign of the prestige and safety of the courts. But unlike later four-pipe liners, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had only two boiler shafts, which bifurcated at the top. This is the reason for the location of the pipes at unequal intervals. Although, like many other four-pipe liners, he did not need so many pipes. Two would be enough.
The ship escaped a massive fire off the North German Lloyd's Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1900, which severely damaged her line companions, the Mine, the Bremen, and the Saale. 161 crew members died on those ships.
World War I
Service
In August 1914, the ship was requisitioned by the Kaiser fleet and converted into an auxiliary cruiser. SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, intended for raids on merchant ships in the Atlantic. It was equipped with six 4-inch guns and two 37 mm guns. After he missed two passenger ships because there were many women and children on board, he sank two cargo ships, and on August 26, 1914 he was sunk himself.
Doom
The auxiliary cruiser was taken by surprise while bunkering with coal off the coast of what was then Spanish colony Rio de Oro (now Western Sahara) in western Africa, by the old British cruiser Highflyer ( HMS Highflyer), armed with 6-inch guns. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" tried to shoot back, but soon he ran out of ammunition. The crew abandoned the ship and sank it in shallow water. British sources at the time insisted that the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse sank due to damage inflicted by the cruiser. Whatever the reason, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the first commercial raider to be lost during the First World War. The liner lay starboard above the water until 1952, until it was dismantled for metal.
Gallery
Kaiser Wilhelm liner port 1897.jpg
"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" in port in 1897.
KWDG smoking room.jpg
First Class Smoking Room (postcard c. 1890−1905)
Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse fight painting 1914.jpg
Battle of Rio de Oro (painting)
Kaiser Wilhelm Der Grosse's Wreck.jpg
Wreck of the "Kaiser Wilhelm" aground (1914)
see also
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Notes
An excerpt characterizing the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (liner)
[Of the 400,000 who crossed the Vistula, half were Austrians, Prussians, Saxons, Poles, Bavarians, Wirtembergers, Mecklenburgers, Spaniards, Italians and Neapolitans. The imperial army, in fact, was one third made up of Dutch, Belgians, inhabitants of the banks of the Rhine, Piedmontese, Swiss, Genevans, Tuscans, Romans, inhabitants of the 32nd military division, Bremen, Hamburg, etc .; there were hardly 140,000 French-speaking people in it. The Russian expedition cost France proper less than 50,000 men; the Russian army in the retreat from Vilna to Moscow in various battles lost four times more than the French army; the fire of Moscow cost the lives of 100,000 Russians who died of cold and poverty in the forests; finally, during its transition from Moscow to the Oder, the Russian army also suffered from the severity of the season; upon arrival in Vilna, it consisted of only 50,000 people, and in Kalisz less than 18,000.]He imagined that by his will there was a war with Russia, and the horror of what had happened did not strike his soul. He boldly assumed the full responsibility of the event, and his bewildered mind saw the justification in the fact that among the hundreds of thousands dead people there were fewer French than Hessians and Bavarians.
Several tens of thousands of people lay dead in different positions and uniforms in the fields and meadows that belonged to the Davydovs and state peasants, in those fields and meadows in which for hundreds of years the peasants of the villages of Borodino, Gorok, Shevardin and Semenovsky had simultaneously harvested and grazed cattle. At the dressing stations for the tithe, the grass and earth were saturated with blood. Crowds of the wounded and unwounded different teams people, with frightened faces, on the one hand wandered back to Mozhaisk, on the other hand - back to Valuev. Other crowds, exhausted and hungry, led by the chiefs, went forward. Others stood still and continued to shoot.
Over the whole field, formerly so cheerfully beautiful, with its sparkles of bayonets and smoke in the morning sun, there was now a haze of dampness and smoke and smelled of a strange acid of saltpeter and blood. Clouds gathered, and it began to rain on the dead, on the wounded, on the frightened, and on the exhausted, and on the doubting people. It was like he was saying, “Enough, enough, people. Stop... Come to your senses. What are you doing?"
Exhausted, without food and without rest, the people of both sides began to equally doubt whether they should still exterminate each other, and hesitation was noticeable on all faces, and in every soul the question was equally raised: “Why, for whom should I kill and be killed? Kill whoever you want, do whatever you want, and I don't want any more!" By the evening this thought had equally matured in the soul of everyone. Any minute all these people could be horrified by what they were doing, drop everything and run anywhere.
But although by the end of the battle people felt the full horror of their act, although they would have been glad to stop, some incomprehensible, mysterious force still continued to guide them, and, sweaty, covered in gunpowder and blood, remaining one by three, artillerymen, although and stumbling and choking with fatigue, they brought charges, charged, directed, applied wicks; and the cannonballs just as quickly and cruelly flew from both sides and flattened the human body, and that terrible deed continued to be done, which is done not by the will of people, but by the will of the one who guides people and worlds.
Anyone who would look at the upset behinds of the Russian army would say that the French should make one more small effort, and the Russian army will disappear; and whoever looked at the backs of the French would say that the Russians had to make one more small effort and the French would perish. But neither the French nor the Russians made this effort, and the flames of the battle slowly burned out.
The Russians did not make this effort because they did not attack the French. At the beginning of the battle, they only stood on the road to Moscow, blocking it, and in the same way they continued to stand at the end of the battle, as they stood at the beginning of it. But even if the goal of the Russians were to knock down the French, they could not make this last effort, because all the Russian troops were defeated, there was not a single part of the troops that did not suffer in the battle, and the Russians, remaining in their places lost half of their troops.
The French, with the memory of all the previous fifteen years of victories, with confidence in the invincibility of Napoleon, with the consciousness that they had taken possession of part of the battlefield, that they had lost only one quarter of the people, and that they still had twenty thousand untouched guards, it was easy to make this effort. The French, who attacked the Russian army with the aim of knocking it out of position, had to make this effort, because as long as the Russians, just like before the battle, blocked the road to Moscow, the goal of the French was not achieved and all their efforts and losses were wasted. But the French made no such effort. Some historians say that Napoleon should have given his old guard intact in order for the battle to be won. To talk about what would happen if Napoleon gave his guards is like talking about what would happen if spring became autumn. It couldn't be. It was not Napoleon who did not give his guard, because he did not want to, but this could not be done. All the generals, officers, soldiers of the French army knew that this could not be done, because the fallen morale of the troops did not allow it.
Not only Napoleon experienced that dream-like feeling that the terrible swing of the arm falls powerlessly, but all the generals, all the soldiers of the French army participating and not participating, after all the experiences of previous battles (where, after ten times less effort, the enemy fled), experienced the same feeling of horror before that enemy, who, having lost half of his army, stood just as formidably at the end as at the beginning of the battle. The moral strength of the French attacking army was exhausted. Not that victory, which is determined by picked up pieces of matter on sticks, called banners, and by the space on which the troops stood and are standing - but a moral victory, one that convinces the enemy of the moral superiority of his enemy and of his impotence, was won by the Russians under Borodin. The French invasion, like an angry beast that received a mortal wound in its run, felt its death; but it could not stop, just as the weakest Russian army could not but deviate. After this push, the French army could still reach Moscow; but there, without new efforts on the part of the Russian army, it was to die, bleeding from a fatal wound inflicted at Borodino. A direct consequence of the battle of Borodino was Napoleon's unreasonable flight from Moscow, the return along the old Smolensk road, the death of the five hundred thousandth invasion and the death of Napoleonic France, which for the first time near Borodino was laid down by the hand of the strongest enemy in spirit.
SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse ("Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" German - Emperor Wilhelm the Great) is a German transatlantic liner owned by the shipping company North German Lloyd.
Named after the first emperor of the German Empire Wilhelm.
The ship became famous for being the first German ship to win the Atlantic Blue Ribbon.
Construction, launching, maiden voyage
The liner was built at the Vulkan shipyard in Stettin and was launched on May 4, 1897. It set off on its maiden voyage on September 19 of that year, from Bremerhaven to New York.
In November 1897, he set the speed record for crossing North Atlantic, going from west to east, and four months later the liner intercepted the Blue Ribbon of the Atlantic and westward, taking it away from the British liner of the Cunard Line company "Lucania".
He held the record until the HAPAG liner Deutschland beat him eastbound in July 1900 and westbound in September 1903. The fact that the German ships took away this famous prize ultimately motivated Britain to build their own fast duo - the Lusitania and the Mauritania.
Later career
The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse became the first ship to have a commercial wireless telegraphy system installed when Marconi fitted the ship in February 1900.
The ship was also the first four-pipe liner. It is the four pipes that will become a sign of the prestige and safety of the courts. But unlike later four-pipe liners, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse had only two boiler shafts, which bifurcated at the top. This is the reason for the location of the pipes at unequal intervals. Although, like many other four-pipe liners, he did not need so many pipes. Two would be enough.
The ship escaped a massive fire at North German Lloyd's Pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1900, which severely damaged her line companions, the Mine, the Bremen, and the Saale. 161 crew members died on those ships.
Six years later, in November 1906, the liner suffered extensive damage when it tried to cut the nose of the British Orinoco (RMS Orinoco); five passengers of the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse were killed in the collision, and a hole 21 meters wide and 8 meters high was formed in the side of the ship. The Admiralty Court found the German liner guilty of the accident.
In 1914, the liner was modified to accommodate additional 3rd and 4th class passengers in order to make the most of the ship for transporting emigrants from Europe to North America.
World War I
Service
In August 1914, the ship was requisitioned by the Kaiser Navy and converted into an auxiliary cruiser SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, intended for raids on merchant ships in the Atlantic.
It was equipped with six 4-inch guns and two 37 mm guns. After he missed two passenger ships because there were many women and children on board, he sank two cargo ships, and on August 26, 1914 he was sunk himself. Doom
The auxiliary cruiser was caught off guard while bunkering coal off the coast of the then Spanish colony of Rio de Oro (now Western Sahara) in West Africa, the old British cruiser HMS Highflyer, armed with 6-inch guns. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" tried to shoot back, but soon he ran out of ammunition. The crew abandoned the ship and sank it in shallow water.
British sources at the time insisted that the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse sank due to damage inflicted by the cruiser. Whatever the reason, the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was the first commercial raider to be lost during the First World War. The liner lay starboard above the water until 1952, until it was dismantled for metal.
