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Lot Essay
When Kaiser Wilhelm II succeeded to the throne of the fledgling German Empire in 1888, he inherited a distinctly 'Victorian', though not especially old, paddle yacht named Kaiseradler. As his plans for a modern German Navy began to develop however, he became increasingly dissatisfied with what he regarded as "this old relic" and determined to replace her with something more in keeping with his own ambitions as well as those of his country.
The new yacht, called Hohenzollern, was built by the Vulcan Shipbuilding Company at Stettin in 1893 to a German Admiralty design. Constructed of steel throughout, she had a 'ram bow' and was far more like a warship than a yacht in appearance, measuring 382½ feet in length with a 46 foot beam. At 3,773 tons (Thames measurement), she was massive and her twin triple-expansion Vulcan engines gave her a cruising speed of 21½ knots. Even the usually supine Reichstag, the German Parliament, objected to her huge costs but the government deflated the critics by assuring them that Hohenzollern would be used as an express despatch vessel in time of war.
Painted in white overall, with her two enormous bell-topped funnels towering over her decks, she presented an awesome and impressive sight when she steamed into Cowes Roads in 1893 just in time for the opening of the regatta. By far the largest of Europe's royal yachts at the time of her completion, her domination over the yachts moored nearby more than matched the Kaiser's personal aspirations. A frequent visitor to Cowes, the Hohenzollern also took the Kaiser on a summer tour of the Norwegian fjords most years as well as on innumerable state and official visits, both in Germany and abroad. In the years immediately preceding the Great War, the Kaiser ordered a newer and even larger Hohenzollern but she was never completed and the original continued in service until the end of his reign in 1918.
The new yacht, called Hohenzollern, was built by the Vulcan Shipbuilding Company at Stettin in 1893 to a German Admiralty design. Constructed of steel throughout, she had a 'ram bow' and was far more like a warship than a yacht in appearance, measuring 382½ feet in length with a 46 foot beam. At 3,773 tons (Thames measurement), she was massive and her twin triple-expansion Vulcan engines gave her a cruising speed of 21½ knots. Even the usually supine Reichstag, the German Parliament, objected to her huge costs but the government deflated the critics by assuring them that Hohenzollern would be used as an express despatch vessel in time of war.
Painted in white overall, with her two enormous bell-topped funnels towering over her decks, she presented an awesome and impressive sight when she steamed into Cowes Roads in 1893 just in time for the opening of the regatta. By far the largest of Europe's royal yachts at the time of her completion, her domination over the yachts moored nearby more than matched the Kaiser's personal aspirations. A frequent visitor to Cowes, the Hohenzollern also took the Kaiser on a summer tour of the Norwegian fjords most years as well as on innumerable state and official visits, both in Germany and abroad. In the years immediately preceding the Great War, the Kaiser ordered a newer and even larger Hohenzollern but she was never completed and the original continued in service until the end of his reign in 1918.