Five Months on a German Raider

A passenger voyage turns into captivity at sea in Frederic George Trayes's account of the First World War. Travelling with his wife aboard the Japanese steamship Hitachi Maru in September 1917, he watches an approaching vessel raise the German naval flag. Warning shots give way to shellfire, and the passengers scramble for lifeboats amid damaged fittings and failing equipment. Trayes describes the confusion through the small possessions and immediate decisions that occupy him as danger closes in.

The account also records the ordinary demands of confinement aboard captured ships: rationed biscuits, scarce soap, mixed currencies and meals disrupted by constant rolling. Shared books and card games offer ways to pass long hours, while the presence of listening sailors limits privacy. These practical details make the memoir useful for readers interested in how naval warfare affected civilian passengers and how people managed daily life under uncertain conditions.