Abdication of Wilhelm II and the Dutch government, however, refused the Allies' requests to extradite him. King George V wrote that his cousin was "the greatest criminal in history", but opposed Prime Minister David Lloyd George's proposal to "hang the Kaiser". U.S. President Woodrow Wilson also opposed extradition, arguing that punishing 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 of both the Prussian and imperial thrones. He also released his soldiers and officials in both Prussia and the empire from their oaths of loyalty to him. Wilhelm
King George V-class battleship (1939) and Italy, it was supposed by the designers of these battleships that the treaty might not be renewed and the ships of the "King George V" class were designed with this possibility in mind. All five ships saw combat during World War II, with "King George V" and "Prince of Wales" being involved in the action on 24 May to 27 May 1941 that resulted in the German battleship being sunk. Following this on 25 October 1941, "Prince of Wales" was sent to Singapore arriving on 2 December and becoming the flagship of Force Z. On 10 December, "Prince of