In the last days of July, 1914, Europe resounded with saber rattling, mobilizations, counter mobilizations and ultimata back and forth – and with sincere efforts for peaceful solutions to insoluble problems. However, no one was at war when the North German Lloyd liner KRONPRINZESSIN CECILE sailed from New York for Southampton, England. She carried 1,1216 passengers and $13 million in gold and silver to be deposited in German banks.
While she was at sea, British naval vessels were put on alert. Austria declared war on Serbia. The German fleet was mobilized. Germany declared “imminent danger of war” and sent an ultimatum to France. Austria and Russia mobilized. KRONPRINZESSIN CECILE plowed peacefully on toward Southampton.
On the night of July 31, her radio operator overheard a French naval vessel telling the British cruiser SUSSEX that “the finest prize ever open to capture” was close by. A very few minutes later came orders from the liner’s owners to return to New York as quickly as possible. Captain Polack headed westward at 24 knots. The weather was thick, but he pushed on through fog and darkness under forced draft, showing no lights, blowing no whistle, hoping to keep ahead of SUSSEX. Meanwhile, Germany declared war on Russia and France, and on Aug. 4, England declared war on Germany. On that same day, KRONPRINZESSIN CECILE came up Frenchman Bay and anchored in Bar Harbor.
Why Bar Harbor? On Aug. 3, the liner was still in the fog off Halifax and England had sent an ultimatum to Germany. There seemed no doubt that war was imminent. For a German liner with gold and silver aboard, the nearest neutral port was the best. SUSSEX might well be very close astern. British warships might be waiting for her off Boston and New York. Furthermore, aboard KRONPRINZESSIN CECILE was C. Ledyard Blair, a Maine yachtsman well acquainted with Frenchman Bay.
With the KRONPRINZESSIN CASTILE peacefully moored in Bar Harbor, the passengers were returned to New York by steamer and train and the bullion was landed under guard. The German crew were hospitably entertained by Bar Harbor residents, for the United States was strongly neutral in 1914. The liner was interned in East Boston in November and taken over by the United States when it entered the war in April, 1917.