SMS Emden (1908)

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SMS Emden
Career (German Empire)
Name:	Emden
Namesake:	Emden
Builder:	Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig
Laid down:	6 April 1906
Launched:	26 May 1908
Commissioned:	10 July 1909
Fate:	Shot to pieces by HMAS Sydney at the Battle of Cocos 9 November 1914
General characteristics
Displacement:	3,364 tons normal
Length:	118 m (390 ft)
Beam:	13.4 m (44 ft)
Draught:	5.3 m (17 ft)
Propulsion:	Twelve boilers, two 16,000 shaft horsepower (12 MW) 3-cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engines driving two propellers
Speed:	23 knots (42.6 km/h)
Range:	3,700 miles (6,000 km)
Complement:	360
Armament:	Ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) rapid fire guns (10 x 1), and two torpedo-tubes
Armor:	Deck 13 mm (0.51 in), Belt 51 mm (2.0 in), Conning tower 102 mm (4.0 in)

SMS Emden was a light cruiser of the German navy in World War I. The Emden raided Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean in the second half of 1914, sinking or capturing thirty Allied merchant vessels and warships before being run aground by her captain to prevent her from sinking, after engaging HMAS Sydney at the Battle of Cocos.

Contents 1 Early service 2 Outbreak of WWI 3 Independent raider in the Indian Ocean 4 Madras to Penang 5 The end of SMS Emden 6 Epilogue 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

[edit] Early service

The Emden was launched on 26 May 1908 and commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine, Germany's Imperial Navy, on 10 July 1909. Armed with ten 4.1 inch (105 mm) guns, she was however the last German cruiser to use reciprocating engines. Emden's sister ship Dresden, and all following cruisers, were equipped with steam turbines. Like most ships of the time, Emden's twelve boilers were heated by burning coal, which had to be constantly shoveled into the fireboxes manually by stokers. Emden was named after the German city of Emden on the Ems estuary, which sponsored the ship.

On 1 April 1910 the Emden officially entered the German fleet and was assigned to the German naval base and garrison at Tsingtao, in Germany's Chinese Kiautschou colony, as part of the German East Asia Squadron. Emden never returned to Germany. Once in Tsingtao, she acquired the nickname "Swan of the East" because of her graceful lines.

The Emden saw her first action suppressing the Sokehs Rebellion on the island of Ponape in the German Caroline Islands in January 1911. Together with the German cruiser Nürnberg she shelled a rebel fortification with her 4.1 inch (105 mm) guns and then sent an armed landing party of seamen ashore to capture the stronghold.

In May 1913, Emden received her last commanding officer, Korvettenkapitän [Lieutenant Commander] Karl von Müller, who was born on 16 June 1873. The chivalry and honour of Captain von Müller during his command of Emden would earn him much respect even from his foes. An enigmatic and quiet man, von Müller suffered from recurring attacks of malaria and eventually died of it in 1923.

A few months after von Müller assumed command, Emden was sent to put down another revolt, this time of Chinese along the Yangtze River. In August 1913, she joined several British and Japanese warships on the Yangtze River and shelled a rebel fort into submission on 13 August.

[edit] Outbreak of WWI

Captain Karl von Müller was a profound student of naval history, and he was only too aware of how the Japanese fleet trapped and destroyed the Russian fleet in Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War. Thus, when news came from Europe that war was imminent, Captain von Müller was determined not to let history repeat itself. On 31 July 1914, Emden left Tsingtao and was at sea when news of the outbreak of World War I was received on 2 August. On 4 August Emden captured her first war prize, the Russian steamer Rjasan (Ryaezan), which was boarded by German sailors and taken back to Tsingtao. Later, Rjasan was turned into an auxiliary cruiser with eight 4.1 inch guns taken from the gunboat Cormoran but had no success and was eventually interned in the United States territory of Guam.

At the time, the German colony at Tsingtao was surrounded by adversaries; the Russians, Japanese, British and French all had bases and warships near Tsingtao, and the deep-water port with its advanced shipyard facilities was coveted by the Allies. Captain von Müller knew that Tsingtao could not possibly hold out for very long against so many foes, so Emden left Tsingtao for the last time to join the German Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Admiral Maximilian von Spee.

On 8 August 1914 Emden rendezvoused with von Spee's squadron at Pagan Island in the northern Marianas, a German colony. Admiral von Spee wanted the squadron to stay united, but agreed to von Müller's suggestion to detach a single light cruiser to the Indian Ocean to raid British merchant shipping. Taking along a collier for fuel, Emden departed German territory for the last time on 14 August 1914.

First steering for the Palau Islands, von Müller had the ship coaled off Timor, in the Dutch East Indies. By putting a dummy fourth smokestack on the ship, von Müller made the Emden closely resemble the British cruiser HMS Yarmouth. On 28 August the Emden slipped between Bali and Lombok and into the Indian Ocean,^[1] fooling the Dutch cruiser Tromp which intercepted Emden and demanded that the German ship leave neutral Dutch waters immediately. Once in the Indian Ocean Emden began to prey upon the hundreds of unescorted British and Allied merchant ships and later in 1914, and even shelled the British Indian city of Madras. In 1914, the Indian Ocean was sometimes referred to as a "British lake" because of the high traffic of British merchant vessels.

[edit] Independent raider in the Indian Ocean

On 10 September, the Emden began to prowl the Indian Ocean. In September 1914, the Emden captured seventeen ships, all British except for two, which were neutral Italian and Norwegian ships, and duly released. Most of the captured British ships were sunk quickly either by gunfire from Emdens 105 mm guns or by placing explosive charges deep in the ships' hulls. Captain von Müller was always gentlemanly to the captains of the ships he captured, and he made certain that every captured British sailor was treated well and kept safe.

The British Admiralty did not learn of the Emden's presence until 14 September, at which time they stopped all British shipping on the Colombo-Singapore route. This caused great panic among the British and Allied shipping offices in the Indian Ocean. Insurance prices for merchant ships skyrocketed and no captains could afford to leave harbour. It was a source of much embarrassment to the British and the Allies that a single German cruiser could effectively shut down the entire Indian Ocean.

Several warships from the British Australian and Far East squadrons, as well as a few French, Japanese and Russian cruisers, were dispatched to hunt down the Emden, but von Müller eluded them all. Some captains of British merchant ships, seeing the Emden approach, would salute her, mistaking her for the Yarmouth. Instead, the Emden would fire a shot over the bow, hoist the German naval ensign, and signal "stop at once – do not wireless."^[2]

[edit] Madras to Penang

Late on the night of 22 September 1914 Emden quietly approached the city of Madras on the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula. At 2130 hrs, Emden opened fire at 3000 yards on the many large fuel oil tanks of the Burmah Oil Company, within the harbour. These were set on fire within the first 30 rounds fired. The greatest casualties were experienced by a merchant ship anchored in Madras harbour, 26 of whose crew were injured. The action lasted half an hour, until 2200 hrs, by which time the shore batteries had begun to reply. However, Emden slipped away unscathed. In all, 125 shells were fired by Emden. Although the raid did little damage, it was a severe blow to British morale and thousands of people fled Madras.^[1]

Emden then sailed southwards down the east coast of Ceylon (Sri Lanka). Emden closed in upon Colombo, but refrained from making an attack on account of the searchlights constantly sweeping the harbour and coastal artillery placements. Legend has it that most of the artillery were dummies made out of tree trunks. Nevertheless, she caused panic among the British. H.H. Engelbrecht, a Boer wildlife officer of German descent was falsely accused of supplying meat to the cruiser and jailed. Sri Lankan mothers frightened their children with the Emden bogeyman, and to this day a particularly cunning person is referred to as an Emdena. The word 'emden', meaning 'streetsmart', entered the Tamil language following her successful attack on Madras Port.^[3]

Captain von Müller then steered towards Minicoy in the Laccadive Islands, where between 25 September and 29 September 1914 he sank six more Allied ships. In the meantime, HMS Hampshire and Chikuma, of the Imperial Japanese Navy were given the task of searching for Emden in the Laccadive Sea.^[1] They were, however, unsuccessful, as their elusive prey had, by the time they arrived, slipped away to the Maldives.

Misled by an old chart, Captain von Müller decided to target the Chagos Archipelago next, expecting rich dividends. However, when he anchored at Diego Garcia on 5 October, far from a single smoking funnel, he found that the inhabitants had still not heard of the declaration of war. He repaired their motor-boat and spent the next ten days having the ship's keel cleaned and having her machinery overhauled.^[1]

Von Müller learned, from intercepted radio signals, that shipping had returned to its usual levels east of Ceylon and that the two Allied cruisers hunting for him, had been reinforced only by the armed merchant-cruiser SS Empress of Asia. He again raided the Laccadive Sea area around Minicoy, bagging ten Allied ships. Although the search for him was intensified, with shipping again suspended, he eluded the Hampshire and the Empress of Asia in rain squalls in the Maldives on the morning of 21 October and set course for the Nicobar Islands, where he coaled before his last great exploit at Penang.

The Allies had decided by this time to institute serious measures to rein in and sink Emden. HMS Yarmouth and the Russian cruiser Askold were transferred from convoy duty to the hunt for the Emden. The Imperial Japanese Navy sent the cruisers Tokiwa and Yakumo to the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal to reinforce the Chikuma and the Russian cruiser Zhemchug already patrolling there.^[1]

From the Nicobars, working his way south-east, Captain von Müller set his sights upon the British port of Penang in British Malaya. On the morning of 28 October Emden entered the harbour at top speed, still disguised as a British cruiser with the fake fourth smokestack. During what became known as the Battle of Penang, she raised the German flag once inside the harbour and launched a torpedo at the Russian cruiser Jemtchug, a veteran of the Battle of Tsushima, followed up with a salvo of shells which riddled the Russian ship. A second torpedo, fired as the Emden turned to leave, penetrated the forward magazine, causing an explosion that sank the ship.^[1] The captain of the Zhemchug had been ashore during the attack, and he was subsequently demoted and imprisoned.

As quickly as Emden had arrived, she turned around and made good her escape. The French destroyer Mousquet followed Emden, under the impression that she was a British cruiser chasing the enemy raider. Once out to sea, the Emden turned on the loan French destroyer and opened fire, catching the Mousquet by surprise, and quickly sunk her. Her sister ships, Pistolet and Fronde, also tried to shadow Emden, but soon lost contact. Thirty-six French survivors from Mousquet were rescued by Emden, and when three died of their injuries, they were buried at sea with full honours. Two days later, the remaining Frenchmen were transferred to a British steamer, Newburn, which had been stopped by the German ship, but not attacked, so as to enable them to be transported to Sabang, Sumatra, in the neutral Dutch East Indies. The French sailors were safely ashore the following day, and the British captain even mailed a letter for Captain von Müller.

In this period, Emden was arguably the most hunted ship in the world, and yet von Müller managed to elude the combined efforts of the Japanese Yahagi and Chikuma, the Russian Askold, and the British Hampshire, Yarmouth, HMS Gloucester, HMS Weymouth, SS Empress of Russia and SS Empress of Australia.^[4]

[edit] The end of SMS Emden

Captain von Müller took the ship through the Sunda Strait towards the Cocos Islands, where he planned to destroy the Eastern Telegraph Company wireless station at Direction Island, thereby crippling Allied communication in the Indian Ocean. He aimed to make for Socotra afterwards and plague Allied merchant shipping on the Bombay-Aden line.^[1] However, this was not to be.

By now, no fewer than sixty Allied warships were combing the Indian Ocean in search of Emden. Emden reached Direction Island on 9 November 1914. Captain von Müller decided to send a landing party ashore to destroy the station's radio tower and equipment under Emden's First Lieutenant Helmuth von Mücke.^[1] Fifty seamen with rifles and machine guns were sent ashore. The British civilians did not resist and Emden's landing party even agreed not to knock the radio tower down over the island's little tennis court.

Unfortunately for Emden, Superintendent Darcy Farrant of the Eastern Telegraph Company had seen Emden's fourth funnel and had sent out a general call of a strange warship in the area. The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, armed with eight 6 inch guns, was dispatched at 0630 hrs from an Australian troop convoy en route to Colombo. Being a mere 55 miles (89 km) north of Direction Island, she arrived there in about three hours.^[1]

When lookouts on Emden spotted the Sydney approaching, Captain von Müller had no choice but to raise anchor, leave his landing party on Direction Island, and engage the Australian cruiser. Sydney was larger and faster than Emden and outranged her, but still the fight went on for nearly an hour and a half. Early on, Emden managed to knock out a gun on Sydney and destroy the Australian ship's rangefinder. However, Emden herself suffered serious damage, being struck over 100 times by shells from Sydney. Her firing dwindled and Captain von Müller beached Emden on North Keeling Island at 1115 hrs to avoid sinking.

At this point, Sydney left the scene to pursue a collier that had been supporting Emden. Returning at 1630 hrs to the beached cruiser, Sydney's commander, Captain John Glossop, saw that Emden was still flying her battle flag, denoting her intention to continue resistance. A signal requesting surrender was sent, but was not answered. Sydney re-opened fire on Emden, causing further casualties before Emden finally struck her colours. Glossop later said that he "felt like a murderer" for ordering the last salvos, but had no choice under the circumstances. German losses were 131 dead and 65 wounded. Captain von Müller and the rest of his crew were made prisoners of war. The officers were, however, allowed to retain their swords as a mark of honour.^[1] Sydney then steamed to Direction Island to verify the state of the wireless station and the cable. However, since it was already too dark to make a landing by then, Captain Glossop had no choice but to lie off until the next morning.

In the meantime, Lieutenant von Mücke, leader of the German landing party had hoisted the Imperial German flag, declaring the island a German possession, putting all Englishmen under martial law and making arrangements for the defence of the beach, installing machine guns and having trenches dug. Having observed the battle between his ship and the Sydney, he gave orders for an old sailing vessel, the 123 ton, three-masted schooner Ayesha, to be made ready for sailing. Though she was old and rotten, von Mücke had her repaired so well that, before sunset, all of the German landing party and their weapons boarded her and set sail.^[1]

[edit] Epilogue

Captain von Müller had the Iron Cross First Class bestowed upon him by Kaiser Wilhelm II. In fact, EVERY officer serving on the Emden was awarded the Iron Cross First Class. Moreover, 50 crewmen of the Emden were given the Iron Cross Second Class. Captain von Muller was later moved to England, but his men remained in captivity in Malta,^[1] until the end of the war. In October 1918, Captain von Muller was released as part of a prisoner exchange. Returning to Germany, he was presented with the Pour le Merite, promoted to Kapitan zur See, and later retired from the Navy due to ill-health. As a signal mark of honour, the Imperial Government of Germany allowed all of the surviving officers and men to suffix the word 'Emden' to their names; the honour is remembered to this day in the form of the numerous 'X-Emdens' amongst German citizens still extant. According to the Almanach de Gotha, Volume I (2000), one of them was Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern-Emden (1891-1964).

Lieutenant von Mücke and his landing party made for Padang on Sumatra, in the neutral Dutch East Indies, where they rendezvoused with a German merchant vessel on 13 December. The party reached Hodeida, in Turkish-occupied Yemen, from where they undertook an epic overland journey under constant harassment by Lawrence of Arabia's irregular army,^[5] before arriving in Constantinople on 5 May 1915.^[1] From there, they travelled overland to Germany.

The captured German sailors were transferred to Singapore, which at that stage was only garrissoned by the 5th Indian Light Infantry Regiment and some Malay States Guides. Together with a coffee shop owner they succedded in instigating a mutiny of their Muslim guards on 15. February 1915. The troops went on a rampage in Keppel Harbour. The mutiny was quickly suppressed by loyal police (mainly Sikhs) and sailors from ships in port.^[6][7]

The mascot of Emden, a 12 cm bronze figure of a woman, was presented to Sir John Hope Simpson, then acting commander of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

In 1917, a 105 mm gun from Emden was installed as a monument in Sydney's Hyde Park. Another is located on display in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, alongside a projected video map of the engagement. A shell from the ship can be seen in the Madras city museum. The wreck itself was largely salvaged for scrap metal by a Japanese company in 1950, but scattered parts of the wreck remain.

Since the destruction of the Emden in 1914, four other warships of the German navy have received the same name. The second Emden was built in 1916. She was beached at Scapa Flow in 1919, when much of the High Seas Fleet was scuttled. She was given over to the French Navy, which eventually scrapped her in 1926. As Kaiser Wilhelm II also awarded the Iron Cross to the ship herself (the only other instance being U-9), the four later Emdens have all carried large symbols of this medal on their bows or forecastles.

[edit] References

[edit] Further reading

• Frame, Tom. (2004). No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy. Sydney: Allen & Unwin 10-ISBN 1-741-14233-4; 13-ISBN 978-1-741-14233-4 (paper)
• Hoehling, A.A. LONELY COMMAND A DOCUMENTARY Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., 1957.
• Hoyt, Edwin P. The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True World War I Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew. The Lyons Press, 2001. ISBN 1585743828.
• Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince of EMDEN: MY EXPERIENCES IN S.M.S. EMDEN. New York: G. Howard Watt, 1928.
• Lochner, R. K. Last Gentleman-Of-War: Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0870210157.
• McClement, Fred. Guns in paradise. Paper Jacks, 1979. ISBN 077010116X.
• Mücke, Hellmuth von. The Emden-Ayesha Adventure: German Raiders in the South Seas and Beyond, 1914. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN 1557508739.
• Schmalenbach, Paul German raiders: A history of auxiliary cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979. ISBN 0870218247.
• Van der Vat, Dan. Gentlemen of War, The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984. ISBN 0-688-03115-3
• Walter, John The Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994. ISBN 1557504563.

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: SMS Emden (1906)

• "ZHEMCHUG", "EMDEN" AND "SYDNEY"
• Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today (German)
• World War I Naval Combat
• Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I
• Eyewitness account of the "Battle of Cocos"
• Excellent Gunter Huff Model in 1/100 scale

v • d • e Dresden class light cruiser Dresden · Emden Preceded by: Königsberg class - Followed by: Kolberg class List of German Imperial Navy ships