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SMS Emden

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{| border="1" align="right" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="300" style="margin-left: 1em;" |style="text-align: center" colspan="2"|Image:SMS Emden.jpg 300px|SMS '''Emden''' |- !style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| Career !style="color: white; height: 30px; background: navy;"| image:Kaiserliche_Kriegsflagge.png KLM ensign |- |Built by: |Kaiserliche Werft, GdaÅ„sk Danzig |- |Laid down: |April 06, 1906 |- |Launched: |May 26, 1908 |- |Commissioned: |July 10, 1909 |- |Cost: |6,38 Mill. Goldmarks |- |Fate: |sunk (scuttled) |- !colspan="2" align="center" style="color: white; background: navy;"|General characteristics |- |Displacement: |3,364 tons normal |- |Length: |118 m |- |Beam: |13.4 m |- |Draught: |5.3 m |- |Propulsion: |Twelve boilers, two 16,000 shaft horsepower (12 MW) 3-cylinder triple expansion reciprocating steam engines driving two propellers |- |Speed: |23 knots (43 km/h) designed, 24 knots (44 km/h) best recorded speed |- |Range: |3,700 miles (6,000 km) |- |Complement: |360 |- |Armament: |ten 104 mm rapid fire guns in single turrets, and two torpedo-tubes |- |Armour: |Deck 13 mm, Belt 51 mm, Conning tower 102 mm |} The cruise of the Germany German light cruiser '''SMS ''Emden'' ''' was among the most romanticised and notable incidents of World War I. In the latter half of 1914 ''Emden'' raided Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean, sinking or capturing thirty Western Allies Allied merchant vessels and warships before being run aground by its captain to prevent it from sinking, after engaging HMAS Sydney (1912) HMAS ''Sydney'' at the Battle of Cocos. After the destruction of this ship in 1914, a second ''Emden'' was built in 1916. She was beached at Scapa Flow in 1919 when much of the High Seas Fleet was scuttled. She, however, did not sink and was given over to the French Navy, which eventually scrapped her in 1926.

Early service
''Emden'' was launched on May 26 1908 and commissioned into the Kaiserliche Marine, Germany's Imperial Navy, on July 10 1909. She was the last piston engine warship to be commissioned into the German Navy, and her sister ship SMS Dresden ''Dresden'' was equipped with steam turbines. Like most ships of the time her 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 town of Emden on the Ems River who sponsored the ship. On April 1 1910 ''Emden'' officially entered the German fleet and was assigned to the German naval base and garrison at Qingdao Tsingtao, in Germany's Chinese Kiautschou colony. Never again would ''Emden'' return to Germany. Once in Tsingtao she acquired the nickname "Swan of the East" because of the graceful lines of the ship. ''Emden'' saw her first action suppressing the Sokehs Rebellion on the island of Ponape in the German colonies of the Carolinas Islands in January of 1911. Together with the German cruiser SMS NÃ¼rnberg ''NÃ¼rnberg'' she shelled a rebel fortification with her 4.1-inch (104 mm) guns and then sent an armed landing party of seamen ashore to capture the rebel stronghold. In May 1913 ''Emden'' received her last, and finest, commanding officer, KorvettenkapitÃ¤n (Lt. Commander) Karl von MÃ¼ller, who was born on June 16 1873. The chivalry and honor of Captain von MÃ¼ller during his command of ''Emden'' would earn him much respect even from his enemies. An enigmatic and quiet man, von MÃ¼ller suffered from recurring attacks of malaria and would eventually die from it in 1923. A few months after von MÃ¼ller assumed command, ''Emden'' was sent to put down another revolt of Chinese along the Yangtze River. In August 1913 she joined several Britain British and Japanese warships on the Yangtze River and shelled a rebel fort into submission on August 13.

The first war cruise
Image:Karl von Mueller.jpg thumb|200px|Captain Karl von MÃ¼ller Captain Karl von MÃ¼ller was a profound student of naval history, and he was only too aware of how the Japanese fleet trapped and destroyed the Russia Russian fleet in Lushun Port Arthur in the Russo-Japanese War. Thus when news came from Europe that war was imminent, Captain von MÃ¼ller was determined not to let history repeat itself. On July 31 1914, ''Emden'' left Tsingtao and was at sea when news of the outbreak of World War I was received on August 2. On August 4th, ''Emden'' captured her first war prize, the Russian steamer ''Rjasan'' (Ryazan), 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 successes and eventually surrendered. At the time, the German colony at Tsingtao was surrounded by enemies; the Russians, Japanese, British and France 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 MÃ¼ller knew that Tsingtao couldn't possibly hold out for very long against so many enemies and so ''Emden'' left Tsingtao for the last time to join up with the German Asiatic Squadron, commanded by the cunning Admiral-Count Maximilian von Spee. On August 8 1914, ''Emden'' rendezvoused with von Spee's squadron at the German island of Pagan. Admiral von Spee wanted ''Emden'' to stay with the squadron, but von MÃ¼ller convinced the admiral to let ''Emden'' go to the Indian Ocean to raid British merchant shipping. Taking along a collier for fuel, ''Emden'' departed from German territory for the last time on August 14. Quietly ''Emden'' slipped through the Dutch East Indies and into the Indian Ocean, fooling the Netherlands Dutch battleship ''Tromp'' which had 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 and defenceless British and Allied merchant ships there. In 1914 the Indian Ocean was sometimes referred to as a "British lake" because of the high traffic of British merchant vessels.

Great successes
In September 1914 ''Emden'' captured seventeen ships, all British except for two which were neutral Italy Italian and Norway Norwegian ships, and duly released. Most of the British ships captured were sunk quickly either by gunfire from ''Emden''s 4.1-inch guns or by placing explosive charges deep in the ships hulls. Captain von MÃ¼ller was always the perfect gentleman to every captain of the ships he captured, and he made doubly certain that every captured British sailor was treated well and kept safe. ''Emden'' began to cause 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 was effectively putting the entire Indian Ocean into a hopeless gridlock. Dozens of warships were dispatched to hunt down ''Emden'', but von MÃ¼ller cleverly avoided them all. By putting a dummy fourth smokestack on the ship, von MÃ¼ller made ''Emden'' closely resemble the popular British cruiser HMS Yarmouth (1911) HMS ''Yarmouth''. Some captains of British merchant ships, seeing ''Emden'' approaching, would salute ''Emden'' thinking it was the friendly ''Yarmouth'' passing by. Instead, ''Emden'' would fire a shot over the bow, hoist the German naval ensign, and signal "Stop at Once".

Raiding and daring
Late at night on September 22 1914, ''Emden'' quietly approached the city of Chennai Madras on the east side of the Indian peninsula. Once in range ''Emden'' opened fire on many large fuel oil tanks that the British kept near the city. After firing 130 shells the oil tanks were burning and the city was in a panic. Although the raid did little damage, it was a severe blow to British morale and thousands of people fled Madras, thinking that ''Emden'' might be planning another attack. ''Emden'' then sailed southwards down the east coast of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), causing 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 obnoxious person is referred to as an ''Emden''. Emden supplied new words to many South Indian Languages. Malayalam word Emendan meaning 'a big thing' or 'as big as Emden' derived from Emden following its successful attack on Madras Port Captain von MÃ¼ller returned to raiding regular merchant shipping again for about a month, working his way south-east towards the British port of Penang in then Malaya. On October 28th ''Emden'' entered the harbour at top speed, still disguised as a British cruiser with the fake fourth smokestack. Once inside the harbor it raised the German flag and began shooting at the Allied ships in the harbor. ''Emden'' fired a torpedo at the small Russian cruiser ''Zhemchug'', a veteran of the Battle of Tsushima, which exploded spectacularly. Several other ships fired back at ''Emden'' but missed, and several shells ended up hitting other friendly ships in the harbour. As quickly as ''Emden'' had arrived, von MÃ¼ller turned the ship around and made good his escape. The French destroyer ''Mosquet'' followed ''Emden'', unwisely, and was quickly sunk by ''Emden''s much heavier guns. It's sister-ship ''Pistolet'' also tried to shadow ''Emden'', but soon lost contact. (See Battle of Penang)

The end for ''Emden''
Image:SMS Emden destroyed.jpg thumb|400px|The ''Emden'' after its destruction. By now no less than sixty Allied warships were combing the waters of the Indian Ocean in search of ''Emden''. A critical part of ship-to-ship communication by wireless in the Indian Ocean was the British communications station at Direction Island in the Cocos Islands Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Captain von MÃ¼ller decided to send a landing party ashore to destroy the station's radio tower and equipment. ''Emden'' reached Direction Island on November 9, 1914. Fifty seamen with rifles and machine guns were sent ashore but the British civilians did not resist and the ''Emden'' landing party even agreed not to knock the radio tower down over the island's little tennis court. Unfortunately for ''Emden'', the people on Direction Island had seen the ''Emden'' coming and had radioed a frantic plea for help. The Australia Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney (1912) HMAS ''Sydney'' was dispatched from a convoy a mere 50 miles (80 km) away from Direction Island and arrived there in about two hours. When lookouts on ''Emden'' spotted ''Sydney'' approaching, Captain von MÃ¼ller had no choice but to raise anchor, leave his landing party still on Direction Island, and engage the Australian cruiser. In the meantime, the landing party had seized the Ayesha, a 123 ton, three-masted schooner and some supplies and made for Padang on Sumatra, in the neutral territory of the Dutch East Indies, where they rendezvoused with a German merchant vessel on December 13. The party made their way to Turkey by way of the Red Sea, arriving on May 5, 1915. From there they travelled overland to Germany. Almost immediately the fight went badly for ''Emden''. ''Sydney'' was larger and faster than ''Emden'', but still the fight went on for nearly an hour and a half. After taking extremely heavy damage and suffering hundreds of casualties Captain von MÃ¼ller beached ''Emden'' on North Keeling Island to avoid sinking. Captain von MÃ¼ller and the rest of his surviving crew were captured by the British, and ''Emden'' was destroyed. In 1917, a 104-millimeter gun from ''Emden'' was installed as a monument in Sydney's Hyde Park, Sydney Hyde Park.

See also
* Battle of Cocos * German cruiser Emden World War II light cruiser Emden Category:German Imperial Navy ships Emden

External links
{{Commons|SMS Emden}}
- "ZHEMCHUG", "EMDEN" AND "SYDNEY" Category:World War I cruisers of Germany Emden de:SMS Emden (1908) es:SMS Emden fr:Dresden (marine allemande, 1908) ja:ã‚¨ãƒ ãƒ‡ãƒ³ (è»½å·¡æ´‹è‰¦ãƒ»åˆ?ä»£)

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