Wilhelm II, German Emperor despite appeals from the Allies. King George V wrote that he looked on his cousin as "the greatest criminal in history", but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George's proposal to "hang the Kaiser". President Woodrow Wilson of the United States opposed extradition, arguing that prosecuting Wilhelm would destabilize international order and lose the peace. Wilhelm first settled in Amerongen, where on 28 November he issued a belated statement of abdication from both the Prussian and imperial thrones, thus formally ending the Hohenzollerns' 400-year rule over Prussia. Accepting the reality that he had lost both of his crowns for good, he
SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II now the "Reichstag" approved the new ship. A second member of the class, "Kaiser Wilhelm II", was delayed until early 1896, when the "Reichstag" approved the ship for the 1896–1897 budget. "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was long overall and had a beam of . Her draft was forward and aft. The ship was powered by three 3-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engines that drove three screw propellers. Steam was provided by four marine-type and eight cylindrical water-tube boilers, all of which burned coal. "Kaiser Wilhelm II"s powerplant was rated at , which generated a top speed of . She had a normal