Built by Arthur Sewall & Co of Bath, Maine[3] she was sunk by the Imperial German Navy raider SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich in 1915.

[4] The ship sailed from Seattle, Washington, on November 4, 1914, with a cargo of 189,950 US bushels (1,768,300 US gal) of wheat, bound for Queenstown, Falmouth, or Plymouth in the United Kingdom.

Off the coast of Brazil, William P. Frye encountered the Imperial German Navy raider SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich on January 27, 1915.

While William P. Frye was U.S.-owned and thus a neutral ship, her cargo was deemed a legitimate target because the Germans believed it was bound for Britain’s armed forces.

[4] The crew and passengers of William P. Frye, including some women and children, were part of some 350 people taken prisoner from eleven different ships Prinz Eitel Friedrich had searched and destroyed.