‘Surprise will be total. It will show the world what we can do. You will do it for Germany!’

The crack German heavy cruiser Prinz Luitpold had always been lucky in battle. To the beleaguered army on the Baltic coast she was their one remaining symbol of hope. But it is the summer of 1944, and on every front the war is going badly for Germany.

When the roder comes to leave the Baltic to attack and destroy enemy shipping in the Atlantic, Kapitan zur See Dieter Hechler knows that once out in the vast killing ground it will only be a matter of time before the hunter becomes the hunted. The Prinz will need all of her legendary luck to survive.

As he faces the challenges of his enormous task, Hechler’s problems increase when a ruthless, glory-seeking admiral arrives on board with some mysterious boxes, a floatplane and a beautiful girl pilot …