SMY Hohenzollern
Encyclopedia
SMY Hohenzollern was the name of several Yachts used by the German Emperor
German Emperor
This article is about the emperors of the German Empire. For full list of German monarchs before 1871, see List of German monarchs.The German Emperor was the official title of the Head of State and ruler of the German Empire, beginning with the proclamation of Wilhelm I as emperor during the...
s between 1878 and 1918, named after their House of Hohenzollern
House of Hohenzollern
The House of Hohenzollern is a noble family and royal dynasty of electors, kings and emperors of Prussia, Germany and Romania. It originated in the area around the town of Hechingen in Swabia during the 11th century. They took their name from their ancestral home, the Burg Hohenzollern castle near...
.
SMY
Hohenzollern I The first S.M.Y. Hohenzollern was built 1876 to 1878 by Norddeutschen Schiffbau A.G. in KielKiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. The interiors were designed by architect Heinrich Moldenschardt. The ship was 88 m long, 17.7 m wide and 4.8 m deep.
In 1892 it was renamed Kaiseradler. It was scrapped in 1912.
SMY Hohenzollern II
Horsepower
Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...
.
It was in use as Imperial Yacht and aviso
Aviso
An aviso , a kind of dispatch boat or advice boat, survives particularly in the French navy, they are considered equivalent to the modern sloop....
from 1893 to July 1914. From 1894 to 1914, with the exception of 1906, Emperor Wilhelm II used it on his annual prolonged Nordlandfahrt trips to Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. In total he spent over four years on board.
In June 1914 the ship attended the Kiel regatta
Kiel Week
Kiel Week is an annual sailing event in Kiel, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in the world, and also one of the largest Volksfest in Europe.- Procedure :...
and on 25 June the last state banquet was held on board to entertain officers of the British fleet whose ships had been invited to attend.
At the end of July 1914 it was put out of service in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
, the last captain being Kapitän zur See Johannes v. Karpf. The ship became property of the Weimar Republic
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic is the name given by historians to the parliamentary republic established in 1919 in Germany to replace the imperial form of government...
in 1918. It was struck on 27 February 1920 and scrapped in 1923 in Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
.
SMY Hohenzollern III
The Hohenzollern III was launched in September 1914 in Stettin, but never finished due to war. It was struck in 1919 and scrapped in 1923 at Deutsche WerkeDeutsche Werke
Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink...
in Kiel.
Philately
The imperial yacht was the subject of the Yacht issueYacht issue
The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of the German Kaiser's yacht, SMY Hohenzollern II, that were used in all of Germany's overseas colonies. Millions of the stamps were produced and they were the principal means of postage for all German imperial overseas possessions...
produced for postal use in German colonies.
Imperial racing yachts
Thistle (yacht)
Thistle was the unsuccessful Scottish challenger of the seventh America's Cup in 1887 against American defender Volunteer.-Design:The cutter Thistle was designed by George Lennox Watson, with interiors by his brother Thomas Lennox Watson, and built at the D&W Henderson shipyard in Partick on the...
was purchased by Wilhelm in 1891 and renamed Meteor. The same name was reused for later yachts. Its main rival was the Germania of the Krupp
Krupp
The Krupp family , a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th...
family.