Jim Lynne, an apprentice at a British shipyard in Liverpool, learns that the ship he has been working on, The 290, is secretly being built for the Confederate Navy. Present when The 290 is christened Alabama, Jim decides to ship aboard the vessel, which means he is fighting for the South in America's Civil War. His decision places him in the center of the war's naval engagements, for as a Confederate raider, Alabama becomes the terror of the seas. Under Captain Raphael Semmes, the Alabama raids the Azores, the bleak waters of the North Atlantic, the eastern seaboard, and the Caribbean. It even hunts Northern ships in the far seas of the East Indies, most of the time with the North's best cruisers hot on its heels.

From the reviews:

"Once again [Scott O'Dell] is able to refract universal themes of liberty and self-awareness through history's prism."

School Library Journal

"The author displays his distinctive gifts for distilling significance from historical matter and for dealing with the sea. ... With lively conversation and with increasing tension, from confrontations at sea and aboard Jim's ship, the author crisply tells the story, skillfully integrating historical elements. ... Immediately captures the reader's interest."

Horn Book