When launched on August 12, 1902, at the Vulcan Company in Bredow near Stettin, the "Kaiser Wilhelm II" represented a great advance over all former steamers. Her principal dimensions were: - length 216 meters, width 22 meters, depth 16 meters. The displacement of the vessel when fully loaded was 26,000 tons. The tonnage was approximately 20,000 gross registered tons. As regards dimensions the vessel surpassed all the previous built fast steamers.

The total weight of the steamer when launched was 11,200 tons, that of the previous express steamer launched for the NDL, namely the "Kronprinz Wilhelm" was 8,950 tons. The "Kaiser Wilhelm II" was built of the best German steel. She had a double bottom extending the entire length of the vessel, divided into 26 water-tight sections, the hull itself was further divided into 19 water-tight compartments, by 16 transverse bulkheads, reaching to the upper deck, and one longitudinal bulkhead in the engine room. The bulkheads were distributed in such a manner that even if two adjoining compartments were filled, the vessel would still float. Below the upper deck there were 4 steel decks extending the entire length of the ship. Above the upper deck were the following superstructures :

1. A spar deck extending the entire length of the ship, whose middle portion served as a lower promenade deck.

2. A forecastle, a midship house 135 meters long and 15 meters wide, and an after deck house 24 meters long. On the spar deck, above the midship house and the after deckhouse, there was an upper promenade deck, 164 meters long.

3. A deck house 136 meters long on the upper promenade deck, and above this the boat deck. There were two wide, comfortable and well-protected promenades on two decks, by the sides of the deckhouses, as against one in all former steamers. Part of the boat deck was likewise available for passengers' use.

Altogether the vessel had accommodation for 775 first class passengers in 290 rooms, 343 second class in 107 rooms, and 770 third class (steerage) passengers. With addition of the crew which numbered about 600 persons, the vessel when full would carry some 2500 people across the ocean. Besides the ordinary cosy and comfortable rooms for 1, 2, 3 and 4 persons, there were two Imperial suites, eight cabines de luxe, eight special staterooms, and 4 rooms with bathrooms adjoining. First class passengers had at their disposal the following luxuriously appointed apartments:
- A dining saloon, situated on the main deck, capable of accommodating 554 persons, a smoking room, a drawing room, and a reading and writing room on the upper promenade deck, a children's saloon on the lower promenade deck, and two cafés on the bridge deck.


The general apartments in the second class were furnished in a similar manner to those of the first class, but somewhat more simply. Second class passengers had for their use a dining saloon accommodating 190 persons situated on the main deck, and a drawing room and a smoking room, both on the after part of the promenade deck. In the way of open air space there was reserved for their use the after part of the promenade deck, in front and at the sides of the drawing and smoke rooms, protected by the upper promenade deck, and the after part of the upper promenade deck, sheltered in its turn by the boat deck. For the general use of the first and second class passengers, there were 28 bath rooms, besides those attached to the cabines de luxe, etc.

Every care had also been taken to provide thoroughly hygienic and comfortable quarters for third class passengers and crew. Of the 52 water-tight doors, 24 in bulkheads were fitted with the Dörr door-closing apparatus, enabling them to be closed from the wheel house. By an indicator in the chart room the captain could see at a glance whether all or which of the water-tight doors were shut. The passenger accommodation was provided throughout with electric light, steam heat, thorough ventilation, etc., and with all the latest improvements. In all there were about 2,700 electric lamps. The electric current was supplied by 5 dynamos. Electricity was extensively used on board the steamer, partly with a view to the comfort of the passengers, partly to ensure safety. There was also an extensive telephone system.

In conformity with requirements of the Imperial German Admiralty, structural arrangements had been made to permit the mounting of a considerable number of guns, so that in time of war, the ship could be used as an auxiliary cruiser. The engines and boilers likewise from the Vulcan Co.'s works, consisted of 4 sets of four-cylinder, three-crank, quadruple expansion, inverted, vertical engines with surface condensers balanced on the Schlick system, and represented together a total of from 38,000 to 40,000 indicated horse-power. They were so disposed that two sets were placed fore and aft on each shaft, so as to make it possible to fix a transverse watertight bulkhead between them, as well as a longitudinal one, thus increasing the number of the watertight compartments and consequently the safety of the ship.

Each two sets of the enormous engines, by means of a driving shaft 42 meters long, drove a four-bladed bronze propeller of 7 meters' diameter. The steam was produced by 12 double and 7 single-ended boilers, working at a pressure of 15 atmospheres, with a heating surface of 10,000 square meters, 124 furnaces, and a grate surface of 290 square meters. The boilers were arranged in 4 groups, each of which had a funnel of 5 meters in diameter, and 40 meters in height.