Wilhelm II, German Emperor after his consent had been gained that major changes to the high command could be effected. Wilhelm was in favour of the dismissal of Helmuth von Moltke the Younger in September 1914 and his replacement by Erich von Falkenhayn. In 1917, Hindenburg and Ludendorff decided that Bethman-Hollweg was no longer acceptable to them as Chancellor and called upon the Kaiser to appoint somebody else. When asked whom they would accept, Ludendorff recommended Georg Michaelis, a nonentity whom he barely knew. The Kaiser did not know Michaelis, but accepted the suggestion. Upon hearing in July 1917 that his cousin George V
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