SMS Emden (1908) - Madras To Penang

Madras To Penang

Further information: Bombardment of Madras

On the night of 22 September 1914 Emden quietly approached the city of Madras on the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula. At 2130 hrs, Emden opened fire from 3,000 yards on the many large fuel oil tanks of the Burmah Oil Company, within the harbour. These were set ablaze with the first 30 rounds fired. The largest number of casualties were experienced by a merchant ship anchored in Madras harbour, 26 of whose crew were injured, five civilian sailors were killed in the action or died later of wounds sustained in combat. The action lasted about half an hour, by which time the shore batteries had begun to reply. However, Emden slipped away unscathed after firing 125 shells. Although the raid did little damage, it was a severe blow to British morale and thousands of people fled Madras.

Emden then sailed southwards down the east coast of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). She 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 pieces 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'. The word 'emden', meaning 'streetsmart', entered the Tamil language following her successful attack on Madras, to this day a particularly cunning person is referred to as an Emdena.

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

Misled by an old chart, Müller decided to target the Chagos Archipelago next, expecting rich dividends. However, when he anchored at Diego Garcia on 5 October, far from finding even a single smoking funnel, he learned that the inhabitants had still not heard of the declaration of war. He repaired a motor-boat that belonged to one of the island's officials, and spent the next ten days having the ship's keel cleaned and her machinery overhauled. There was even time to touch up the Emden's paintwork.

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 RMS 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. 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.

From the Nicobars, working his way south-east, Captain 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 Zhemchug, a veteran of the Battle of Tsushima, followed by 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. The captain of the Zhemchug had been ashore seeing his mistress during the attack, he was subsequently demoted and imprisoned. A party of sixty Chinese prostitutes were aboard at the time of the action; their fate is unknown.

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 lone French destroyer and opened fire, catching the Mousquet by surprise and quickly sinking 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, the British captain even mailed a letter for Captain Müller.

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