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
HMS King George V (41) "Rodney" opened fire. "King George V" followed suit in less than a minute. "Bismarck" answered almost immediately, straddling "Rodney" on her second salvo. By 08:59 "King George V" had closed to and all her 14-inch guns were firing; "Rodney" was firing full 16-inch salvoes. "Bismarck" concentrated all her remaining guns on "King George V", but only an occasional shell came close. At 09:14 "King George V", at , had opened fire with her 5.25-inch guns, and "Rodney" had moved to . At 09:27 a shell hitting "Bismarck" penetrated the hydraulic machinery in turret 'Anton' and disabled it, causing the guns