SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie (1905)

Hamburg-America Line steamer Kronprinzessin Cecilie
History
Germany
Name:	SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie
Namesake:	Duchess Cecilie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Crown Princess of Prussia
Launched:	14 October 1905
United Kingdom
Name:	HMS Princess
Launched:	14 October 1915
Notes:	Used as a dummy for HMS Ajax
General characteristics
Tonnage:	8,688 GRT
Length:	143.25 m (470 ft 0 in) pp
Beam:	16.76 m (55 ft 0 in)

Kronprinzessin Cecilie was a Hamburg-America Line passenger ship launched on 14 October 1905 by Krupp Aktiengesellschaft Germaniawerft at Kiel, Germany. The ship was placed on the South American service and soon to be overshadowed by the Norddeutscher Lloyd four stack liner Kronprinzessin Cecilie launched on 1 December 1906 that, at 18,372 GRT, was over twice the 8,688 GRT tonnage of the Hamburg-America Line ship.

The ship, after leaving New York on 25 July 1914 sought refuge in the port of Falmouth, Cornwall, Britain not yet having declared war, from a French cruiser. The ship was given permission to leave on Britain's entry into the war, though British and French warships were waiting, refused, and as a result was condemned in a British court, requisitioned by the government and taken into the Royal Navy as HMS Princess in 1915.

Kronprinzessin Cecilie was built for the Hamburg-America Line by Krupp Aktiengesellschaft Germaniawerft, Kiel, under a June 1904 contract in which the keel was laid on 1 January 1905 and the ship was launched on 14 October 1905.

The ship was 143.25 metres (470 ft 0 in) long between perpendiculars, by 16.76 metres (55 ft 0 in) extreme beam.

Two quadruple expansion main engines, with cylinders of 60 centimetres (23.6 in), 127.5 centimetres (50.2 in), 187.5 centimetres (73.8 in) and 87.5 centimetres (34.4 in) with a stroke of 135.7 centimetres (53.4 in), each developed about 3,035 indicated horsepower (2,263 kW) at 79 revolutions. The engines were in a central engine room without separation bulkheads with common starting and work platforms between and drove two manganese bronze four-bladed propellers, turning outboard going ahead, with 5.41 metres (17.7 ft) diameter and 6.2 metres (20.3 ft) pitch. Steam was provided by three double ended, with three furnaces at each end, and one single ended boiler with three furnaces at the front end for a total of twenty-one furnaces. Electrical power at 102 volts for lights and some auxiliary equipment, including radio, was generated by three dynamos, two aft in the engine room and one above the waterline forward of the main deck engine hatch, each delivering 400 amperes.