'' Prinz Eitel Friedrich '' s first season on the winter tour service proved to be an eventful one . After departing Colon , Panama on 12 January 1907 , the vessel was due to make port at Kingston , Jamaica on 14 January when a devastating earthquake struck the island , killing as many as 1,745 people and causing widespread destruction . Though initially reported to have been stranded in the harbor along with several other ships , '' Prinz Eitel Friedrich '' was in fact still operational , and over the course of the next three days , took aboard some 160 American refugees . With her first-class accommodations " taxed to their capacity " , the vessel then departed for New York , where on 23 January , she became the first ship to return there from the disaster . On arrival , the passengers passed a resolution condemning the " inactivity and utter inefficiency " of the British authorities at Jamaica after the quake , along with the latters ' alleged neglect of the Americans in favour of British refugees
a devastating earthquake
1907 Kingston earthquake
SS Otsego