Capture of SMS Emden 

Several German raiders roamed the seas in the early months of the war, taking many prizes before being finally rounded up. Of these, the most resourceful and daring was the third-class cruiser Emden, commanded by Captain Karl von Muller. By means of supply ships, Captain von Muller was enabled to raid the southern seas for nearly three months without touching land. After looting the captured merchantmen it was his practice to sink all but one of them. This ship he filled with the prisoner crews and passengers he had captured, sending them to the nearest port. Some of the prize ships he used as colliers, placing in charge his petty officers.

The Emden, quitting Japanese waters when the war opened, steamed into the harbor of Madras, in British India, with the French flag flying and bombarded the town, setting on fire two large oil tanks. Before leaving Bengal Bay, the German raider sank twenty-one steamers, with $45,000,000 worth of merchandise on board.

The Emden's Audacious Ruse

The British government sent a squadron in pursuit of the Emden. Within a short time the British cruiser Yarmouth captured two of the Emden's colliers off the coast of Sumatra. This left Captain von Muller short of coal. He sought to replenish this supply by an audacious ruse.

Knowing that the Yarmouth had sailed from Penang in his pursuit, he boldly decided to enter that harbor in search of coal. By means of a false funnel and the ingenious use of canvas, he disguised his ship so as to make it resemble the Yarmouth, and on the evening of October 28, 1914, entered the harbor of Penang.

A Russian cruiser and three French destroyers were then on guard in the harbor. They hailed the Emden by wireless and were assured that the vessel was the Yarmouth returning to harbor.

The Emden actually approached to within 600 yards of the Russian cruiser before the ruse was discovered. Too late the Russian ship opened fire. The Emden riddled the Russian vessel with shell fire and she san...

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 (80 km) north of Direction Island, she arrived there in about three hours.

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 massive 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...