During the last days of 1914 the German Lloyd Liner Kronprinz Wilhelm lay restlessly at anchor in the port of Hoboken, New Jersey. She was one of the largest luxury ships afloat and when, at her launching thirteen years earlier, people had predicted great things for her, they little realized how great. For this huge vessel,stripped down and completely re-equipped, was destined to become one of the most lethal sea raiders of the First World War.
Captained by courageous Paul Thierfelder, the cunningly disguised Kronprinz Wilhelm roamed the Atlantic wreaking havoc among defenceless Allied merchant ships. Her elusiveness and ability to attack suddenly and without warning soon earned her the name "Ghost of the Atlantic". The damage she inflicted on morale was immeasurable, and in telling her story Mr. Hoyt describes naval warfare at its most bleak and pitiless.