The German success in the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_ was now to be followed up by a still more wonderful achievement in the _Kaiser Wilhelm II._, a photograph of which is here reproduced. Her coming in 1903 caused a sensation in the shipping world, for she represented not merely the extraordinary capabilities which the German shipbuilders had already attained, but was superior in speed not only to all the British steamships, but to her own sister, the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_. Two and a half feet longer than the _Oceanic_, about 4 feet wider, but with 5 feet less depth, she was, like the _Ivernia_, fitted with two sets of quadruple-expansion engines to drive her twin-screws. Her gross tonnage exceeded that of the _Oceanic_ and the _Great Eastern_ as well, and with a speed of 23½ knots was a knot faster than the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_. This vessel and the Hamburg-American liner _Deutschland_ were able to give to Germany the proud possession of the fastest liners in the world until the _Lusitania_ arrived on the scene. The _Kaiser Wilhelm II.’s_ best day’s run is 583 knots, and she has maintained an average speed from New York to Plymouth of 23·58 knots. To obtain this the phenomenal amount of 45,000 horse-power has to be developed by means of a double set of quadruple-expansion engines--two for each propeller shaft--necessitating sixteen cylinders, steam being generated from nineteen boilers fired by no fewer than 124 furnaces. But no one could assert that such a ship as this is economical to run, for although her speed is only one knot faster than the _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, yet each day she burns about another 200 tons of coal in doing it, and supposing we were to take the cost of fuel at 20s. a ton, we can easily see that each Atlantic voyage means an _extra_ expense of much more than £1,000. [Illustration: THE “KAISER WILHELM II.” _From a Photograph by West & Son, Southsea._]