"The Sea Devil" by Lowell Thomas is one of the best real-life adventure books I've read. This book lends a biographical account of the life of Count Luckner, the Sea Devil, the man who commanded the German raider Seeadler in WW1. The Seeadler was a sailing ship that had broken through the British blockade and played havoc with Allied shipping in the Atlantic and Pacific during the latter part of the war. Luckner looked the part of a Sea Devil; he was a tall, massive man with huge shoulders and a voice that boomed like a foghorn.


click here THE SEA DEVIL



The Seeadler was the most famous German auxiliary cruiser in World War I. The former British sailing ship Pass of Balmaha was captured in July 1915 by U 36 . In early 1916 it was considered to use this ship as an auxiliary cruiser and it was equipped with guns and other equipment. Camouflaged as a Norwegian ship, it left German in December 1916. In the following 10 months, the Seeadler was able to capture or sink 14 ships, mainly sailing ships. On 02.08.1914, the ship beached at the Island of Mopelia near Tahiti. During its operations, the Seeadler sunk a total of 14 ships.

Has anyone examined the wreck? As I rememder the actual cause was somewhat controversial. (Was it a small tsunami or merely a case of anchors dragging due to an error in seamanship in chosing the spot to anchor?)