SMY ''Hohenzollern'' (german: Seiner Majestät Yacht Hohenzollern) was the name of several yachts used by the

German Emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

s between 1878 and 1918, named after their

House of Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, also , german: Haus Hohenzollern, , ro, Casa de Hohenzollern) is a German royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) dynasty whose members were variously princes, Prince-elector, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzol ...

History

SMY ''Hohenzollern I''

The first ''Hohenzollern'' was built 1876–1878 by '' Norddeutsche Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

. Her interiors were designed by architect Heinrich Moldenschardt. In 1892 she was renamed ''Kaiseradler'' (Imperial eagle) and scrapped in 1912.

SMY ''Hohenzollern II''

''Hohenzollern II'' was launched on 27 June 1892, the build completed the same year by

AG Vulcan Stettin Aktien-Gesellschaft Vulcan Stettin (short AG Vulcan Stettin) was a German shipbuilding and locomotive building company. Founded in 1851, it was located near the former eastern German city of Stettin, today Polish Szczecin. Because of the limited ...

. She was long, had a beam of and drew , with . She was used as the Imperial Yacht and

aviso An ''aviso'' was originally a kind of dispatch boat or "advice boat", carrying orders before the development of effective remote communication. The term, derived from the Portuguese and Spanish word for "advice", "notice" or "warning", an ...

from 1893 to July 1914. From 1894 to 1914, with the exception of 1906,

Emperor Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empi ...

used her on his annual prolonged ''Nordlandfahrt'' trips to

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. In total he spent over four years on board. In June 1914 ''Hohenzollern II'' attended the Kiel regatta 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 ''Hohenzollern II'' was put out of service in

, the last captain being ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

'' Johannes V. Karpf. The ship became property of the Weimar Republic in 1918. Struck on 27 February 1920, she was scrapped in 1923 in

Wilhelmshaven Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') 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, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...

SMY ''Hohenzollern III''

''Hohenzollern III'' was launched in September 1914 in

Stettin Szczecin (, , german: Stettin ; sv, Stettin ; Latin language, Latin: ''Sedinum'' or ''Stetinum'') is the capital city, capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the Po ...

but never finished due to war. She was struck in 1919 and scrapped in 1923 at

Deutsche Werke Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company that was 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 defense industry to shri ...

in Kiel.

Philately

The imperial yacht was the subject of the

Yacht issue The Yacht issue was a series of postage stamps, bearing the image of German Kaiser's yacht, '' SMY Hohenzollern II'', that were used in all of Germany's overseas colonies. Millions of stamps were produced and they were the principal means of po ...

produced for postal use in German colonies.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Klaus Kramer - S.M.Y. ''Hohenzollern''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hohenzollern, SMY Royal and presidential yachts Auxiliary ships of the Imperial German Navy

SMY Hohenzollern SMY ''Hohenzollern'' (german: Seiner Majestät Yacht Hohenzollern) was the name of several yachts used by the German Emperors between 1878 and 1918, named after their House of Hohenzollern. History SMY ''Hohenzollern I'' The first ''Hohenzollern ...

Steam yachts 1878 ships Ships built in Kiel