A Medallion of Willhelm 11 of Germany and the Passenger Liner Imperator

A bronze of King Willhelm 11 of Germany. The bronze shows the port bow view of the Liner Imperator and a small tug. Inscribed 1913 Hamburg Amerika Line. Turbinen Schnell Damper (Fast Turbine Steamer) Imperator. The sculptor C. Kuhl in original case. Three hundred medallions were struck to celebrate the launching of the ship in 1912 and for its maiden voyage in 1913. It was the largest passenger ship in the world carrying up to 5000 passengers and crew. After it’s maiden voyage to New York via Cherbourg and Southampton it only sailed for a few months before being docked in Hamburg due to the onset of the First World War. After transporting twenty five thousand Americans home at the war’s end it was given to the British as a war reparation. Renamed Berengaria it was the Cunard Flagship until 1934. Eventually sold in 1938 it was dismantled and scrapped in 1946. A medallion is in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.