150 years ago, on December 11, 1875, a terrible disaster occurred in Bremerhaven. A huge detonation occurred at the outer harbor to the New Harbor. An unknown number of people were injured and ultimately around 100 people were killed. The tragic event was the result of a crime. Under the pseudonym William King Thomas, the Canadian Alexander Keith Jr. had planned an insurance fraud in which he wanted to sink the passenger steamer MOSEL on the North Atlantic using a bomb with a time fuse. Because the bomb fell from the crane during loading, it exploded prematurely in Bremerhaven.

This terrible accident provides the background for the novel "Dreams of Freedom - Flames at Sea" by Bremerhaven journalist, presenter and author Silke Böschen. The novel focuses on the encounter between two women, one of whom is the wife of the perpetrator and the other a woman who lost her loved ones in the explosion.