"Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" was long overall and had a beam of and a draft of forward and aft. She displaced as designed and up to at full load. 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 boilers, all of which burned coal. "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse"s powerplant was rated at , which generated a top speed of . She had a cruising radius of at a speed of . She had a normal crew of 39 officers and 612 enlisted men.