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
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