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 der Grosse preventing the "German" squadron from passing through the Great Belt in the Baltic. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" and several other battleships were then tasked with forcing an entry into the mouth of the Elbe River, where the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal and Hamburg could be seized. The "hostile" flotilla accomplished these tasks within three days. The regular winter cruise followed during 1–12 December. In 1903, the fleet, which was composed of only one squadron of battleships, was reorganized as the "Active Battle Fleet". "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" remained in the I Squadron along with her sister ships and the newest s,