Editing SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse (section)

==Origin, concept and construction==
[[File:Teutonic leaving Liverpool.jpg|thumb|left|[[White Star Line]]'s [[RMS Teutonic|RMS ''Teutonic'']], the inspiration for the "[[Kaiser-class ocean liner|Four Flyers]]"]]
[[File:Front cover of North German Lloyd Steamship passenger book (cropped).jpg|thumb|upright|Front cover of North German Lloyd Steamship Company passenger book]]
At the end of the 19th century, the United Kingdom dominated maritime trade with the ocean liners of the principal maritime companies such as the [[Cunard Line|Cunard]] and the [[White Star Line]]. Having gained more influence in Europe after [[William I, German Emperor]], his grandfather, had created the [[German Empire]] in 1871, [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Emperor Wilhelm II]] wished to consolidate German influence on the sea and thus decrease that of the British.<ref>Mars, p. 36</ref> In 1889, the Emperor himself had attended a naval review in honour of the jubilee of his grandmother [[Queen Victoria]]. There he saw the strength and size of these British ships, notably the latest and then-largest liner owned by White Star, {{RMS|Teutonic}}. He particularly admired the fact that these ships could easily be converted to auxiliary cruisers in time of conflict. Leaving a lasting impression, the emperor was heard to say that "We must have some of these..."<ref>[http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/teutonic.html « ''Teutonic'' »] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007014931/http://www.thegreatoceanliners.com/teutonic.html |date=7 October 2011 }}, ''The Great Ocean Liners''. 15 July 2010</ref>

''[[Norddeutscher Lloyd]]'', commonly called NDL, or in English, North German Lloyd, was one of only two German maritime companies which had any influence in the hugely profitable North Atlantic shipping market. Neither of these lines had shown any interest in operating large liners. NDL, however, was the first company to name any of their liners in honour of members of the Imperial family, purely to flatter the emperor. The company also had important links with the naval architects [[AG Vulcan Stettin|AG Vulkan]] of [[Stettin]]. NDL then approached Vulkan and commissioned them to build a new "superliner", which was to be named ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse''. The new ship would set a new style for ocean liners. She was the largest and longest liner afloat and would have been the largest ever had it not been for {{SS|Great Eastern||2}} of 1860.<ref>Ferulli, p. 117</ref> She was the first liner to have suites with sleeping quarters including a private parlor and bath. She was built with decks strengthened to mount eight {{cvt|15|cm|abbr=on}} guns, four {{cvt|12|cm|abbr=on}} guns, and fourteen [[machine gun]]s; although fewer and smaller guns were actually mounted in her ultimate wartime conversion.<ref name=fwh>{{cite book |last=Halsey |first=Francis Whiting |title =History of the World War |publisher =Funk & Wagnalls Company |volume =Ten |date =1920 |location =New York |pages =15–17 }}</ref>

The launching of the ship took place on 4 May 1897 in the presence of the Imperial family; it was the emperor who baptised the ship whose name honoured his grandfather Emperor William I, "''the Great''". The liner was completed and internally decorated at [[Bremerhaven]]. Her maiden voyage was scheduled for September the same year.<ref>Ferulli, p. 116</ref> ''Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse'' was the first ship to have four funnels. For the next two decades they were a symbol of size and safety.