The SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm was a battleship type Konig class of 25'388 tonnes for a length of 175m, 30m at the beam and a draught of 9m. She was powered by three turbines developing 46'000hp acting each on a propeller bringing her to a maximum speed of 22 knots. Her armament consisted of ten 305mm canons, fourteen 150mm canons, six 85mm canons and five 500mm torpedo tubes. She needed a crew of 1136 men and officers.

Built at the Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, she was launched on the 21st of February 1914 as SMS Kronprinz, but she was officially completed on the 8th of November 1914. On the 27th of January 1918 she was renamed SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm. She served in the Third Battle Squadron and took part in the battle of Jütland on the 31st of May 1916. After the attack of British battlecruisers, she faced 24 Dreadnought battleships of the British Battle Fleet who opened fire on sight. Unable to locate the enemy through the smoke and gunfire from the numerous previous actions, they could just wait for the onslaught of the British shells. The Kronprinz was lucky that day and was not hit once unlike the König and the Markgraf who suffered extensive damage. After this battle the SMS Kronprinz took part in action only once more. On the 4th of November 1916, the ships of Squadron III were dispatched to cover torpedo boats and tugs during an attempt to recover U-20 which had run aground off Danish coast. Aboard was the Captain-Lieutenant Schwieger who had been responsible for one of the wars most infamous events, the attack of the Lusitania with the loss of 1198 men, women and children. Despite all their efforts, U-20 was so well entrenched in the sand that all their hawsers snapped. The following morning her crew was taken off and she was blown up. Unfortunately the group was spotted by the British submarine J1 commanded by Commander Noel Laurence. J1 fired two torpedoes which were deadly accurate. Despite extensive damage the SMS Kronprinz and SMS Grosser Kurfürst stayed afloat and limped back to their base. The J1 commander received a bar on his DSO for is action and surviving two hours of depth charging by the German destroyers. On the 21st of June 1919 at 13h15, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm disappeared beneath the surface after receiving her last order to scuttle.

The Kronprinz Wilhelm lies nearly upside down pulled by the weight of her armament. The Kronprinz Wilhelm is most certainly the best conserved of the three battleships lying in the bay. Upon arrival on the top of the hull, we can notice extensive damage in the vicinity of the engine room, the boilers and the torpedo room due to salvage. These openings allow penetration and the exploration of the insides of the ship. Port side is the accessible on we can observe the row of seven 150mm canons most of them still in place. Aft from their are 305mm canons. Moving up on the keel, the rudder is still intact.

There are no particular difficulties, however beware of the size of the ship. The visibility can however fall due to the presence of sediments during penetration. Nitrox 36 would be the gas of choice for this dive, giving us over 30 minutes without leaving the NDL.