The title is livelier than the book itself. In the early days of WWI, the UK armed several passenger liners with older model naval guns and set them up as escorts of convoys, and as general patrol craft, replacing some more up-to-date ships which were moved to the North Sea. The Germans, having a smaller merchant marine, armed some of their passenger liners and sent them to sea to hunt and destroy or capture merchant vessels . Thus we have the spectacle of two of these vessels meeting in armed combat. The Cap Trafalgar was the German raider, armed with 2 105mm guns, and the Carmania, carrying 8 4.7" (120mm) guns. On September 14, 1914 they fought off Trinidad, on the Atlantic side. ( )