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
Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship active service for a second time. The ships were disarmed by 1916 and transferred to secondary roles. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" became a torpedo training ship and "Kaiser Wilhelm II" became the headquarters ship for the commander of the High Seas Fleet in Wilhelmshaven. The other three ships were used as floating prisons. In 1917, "Kaiser Friedrich III" was transferred to barracks ship duties in Flensburg. All of the ships, with the exception of "Kaiser Wilhelm II", were stricken from the navy register on 6 December 1919 and sold for scrapping. "Kaiser Wilhelm II" followed on 17 March 1921. By