Kronprinzessin Cecilie's registered length was 471.4ft (143.7m), her beam was 55.3ft (16.9m),[5] her depth was 30.0ft (9.1m), and her draught was 25ft (7.6m).[4] Her hull had nine watertight bulkheads.[6] Her tonnages were 8,689GRT, 5,053NRT,[5]7,380DWT, and 14,350 displacement.[4]8,200 cubic feet (232m3) of her cargo capacity was refrigerated.[7] As built, she had berths for 1,285 passengers: 326 in first class; 44 in second class; and 915 in third class.[3]
Kronprinzessin Cecilie had one single-ended and three double-ended boilers, with a working pressure of 214 pounds per square inch (1,480kPa).[8] They supplied steam to a pair of quadruple-expansion engines, each of which developed 3,035 ihp at 79 RPM. They drove a pair of four-bladed manganese bronze screws.[9] She had three 400-AmpAEGdynamos to supply 102-Volt electric current throughout the ship. She was equipped with wireless telegraphy.[10] She had a crew of 219.[3]
HAPAG registeredKronprinzessin Cecilie in Hamburg. Her code letters were RPCD.[5] On 14 March 1906 she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage, which was to Tampico and Vera Cruz in Mexico. On the voyage her average speed was 14.4 knots (26.7km/h).[4] She and her sister ship Fürst Bismarck were HAPAG's largest ships on the route.[3]
Kronprinzessin Cecilie also made cruises, for which her hull was repainted white.[3] On 2 February 1907 she left HAPAG's terminal at Hoboken, New Jersey with passengers for the West Indies.[11]
In April 1914 the USA caught the HAPAG ship Ypirangagun-running for President Victoriano Huerta's army in the Mexican Revolution. After the "Ypiranga incident", the US was suspicious of any unusual activity by HAPAG ships. On 8 May it was alleged that Kronprinzessin Cecilie had arrived in Puerto Mexico (now Coatzacoalcos) carrying arms.[15][16] On 10 May Admiral Badger, who was in Vera Cruz, reported that although Kronprinzessin Cecilie was carrying arms and ammunition, they were not unloaded in Puerto Mexico, and she would take them back to Hamburg.[17][18] On 13 May he confirmed that she did not land the arms at Vera Cruz either.[1]
Huerta sent a delegation to a peace conference to be held at Niagara Falls, Ontario. On 10 May Emilio Rabasa, Agustín Rodríguez, and Luis Elguero embarked on Kronprinzessin Cecilie at Vera Cruz to travel as far as Havana,[19] where they were to change ships to reach Key West, Florida.[20] From there the delegation was to continue overland to Niagara Falls. Kronprinzessin Cecilie was delayed in Vera Cruz, waiting to embark refugees who were expected from Tampico.[21] The ship reached Havana on 14 May, where Rabasa, Rodríguez, and Elguero made their connection to Key West.[22]
On 25 July 1914 Kronprinzessin Cecilie left Hoboken for Hamburg.[23] On 3 August, France declared war on the Central Powers. A French Navycruiser pursued Kronprinzessin Cecilie, which took refuge in Falmouth, Cornwall. The next morning the United Kingdom declared war on the Central Powers. German ships in UK-controlled ports, including Kronprinzessin Cecilie, were seized.[3][24]
Princess
On 21 October 1914 the Admiralty ordered the conversion of Kronprinzessin Cecilie into a dummy of the battleship HMS Ajax. On 1 November a contract was placed with Harland & Wolff in Belfast. She was given false superstructure and guns made of wood and canvas. She was ballasted to sit lower in the water, to create an illusion of greater length. The conversion was completed in March 1915. She was based at Loch Ewe in Ross-shire, from which she patrolled the North Atlantic. By October 1915 she had been paid off. At some point in 1915 the ship was renamed Princess.[25]
On 6 May 1916 Princess was commissioned at Belfast as HMS Princess, with the pennant number MI.57. She was sent to take part in the East African campaign. She left Belfast on 2 July, called at São Vicente, Ascension Island, and Saint Helena, and was in port at Simon's Town from 29 July until 9 August. She continued via Durban to Zanzibar, where she arrived on 22 August. The next day, she positioned herself off Dar es Salaam and opened fire on German positions ashore.[25]
The armed merchant cruiser HMS Himalaya, which also took part in the landing at Mikindani
Princess patrolled the coast of German East Africa. On 13 September she and other Royal Navy ships landed troops at Mikindani, near the border with Moçambique. Princess sent seven boats ashore. The British captured the town without resistance.[25]
Apart from a visit to Palma on 8–10 December 1916, just over the border in Moçambique, Princess continued to patrol the coast of German East Africa. On 22 February she sent troops ashore in six boats at Lindi. On 16 May 1917 she left Dar-es-Salaam for South Africa. She spent most of the time in Simonstown, plus shorter visits to Cape Town and Durban.[25]
On 11 September she embarked troops at Durban. On 18 September she sent 200 troops ashore at Lindi, and on 26 September she landed further troops at Dar-es-Salaam. She stayed in Dar-es-Salaam until 28 September, when she embarked troops to repatriate to India. She stopped at Zanzibar until 1 October. She crossed the Indian Ocean to Bombay (now Mumbai), where she reached Alexandra Dock (now Indira Dock) on 11 October. She was decommissioned there on 13 October.[26] However, in January 1918 she was still on Royal Navy records, with her pennant number changed to M.91.[25]
In 1919 Princess was registered in London. Her UK official number was 143933 and her code letters were JQWM. The Shipping Controller appointed Ellerman & Bucknall, a company in the Ellerman Lines group, to manage her.[3][27] She was scrapped in May 1923.[28]
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Dittmar, Frederick James; Colledge, James Joseph (1972), British warships, 1914–1919, Littlehampton: Littlehampton Book Services, ISBN0-7110-0380-7, LCCN0711003807
Haws, Duncan (1980). The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines. Merchant Fleets in Profile. Vol.4. Cambridge: Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN0-85059-397-2.
Osborne, Richard; Spong, Harry & Grover, Tom (2007). Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945. Windsor: World Ship Society. ISBN978-0-9543310-8-5.
Rothe, Klaus (1986). Deutsche Ozean-Passagierschiffe 1896 bis 1918. Bibliothek der Schiffstypen (in German). Berlin: VEB Verlag für Verkehrswesen. ISBN3-344-00059-4.
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