SMS Möwe was already famous. Her commander Kaptain Count Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien had taken Möwe around the world in 1915 and early 1916, sinking several vessels and fighting one engagement with the British. With a veteran crew and ship, Kaptain Dohna-Schlodien ran the British blockade of Germany in December 1916 and headed for the mid-Atlantic, taking several vessels along the way. Möwe was armed with four 150-millimeter guns, one 105-millimeter gun and two 503-millimeter torpedo tubes. She had a complement of 235 officers and men; also on board were hundreds of sea mines.