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 II out with six torpedo tubes, one of which was placed in an above-water swivel mount at the stern, with four submerged on the broadside and one submerged in the bow. The ship's belt armor was thick, and the deck was thick. The conning tower and main battery turrets were protected with of armor plating, and the secondary casemates received of armor protection. "Kaiser Wilhelm II"s keel was laid on 26 October 1896, at the Kaiserliche Werft in Wilhelmshaven, under construction number 24. Ordered under the contract name "Ersatz Friedrich der Grosse", to replace the elderly armored frigate , she was