SMS Emden (1908) - World War I

World War I

Captain von Müller was well aware of how the Japanese fleet had trapped and destroyed the Russian fleet in Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War. When news came from Europe that war was imminent, he was determined not to let history repeat itself. The only major naval unit not on a routine mission at Pacific Ocean colonies, Emden left Tsingtao on 31 July 1914 and was at sea when news of the beginning of World War I was received on 2 August.

Two days later, Emden captured her first prize, the Russian steamer Rjasan (Ryaezan), which was boarded and escorted back to Tsingtao.

The German colony was soon surrounded by belligerents – British, French, Japanese and Russians; all had East Asian bases and warships near Kiautschou. The deep-water port at Tsingtao with its advanced shipyard facilities and neighbouring modern infrastructure was coveted by the Allies. Realizing the colony could not hold out for long, Müller left to join the German East Asia Squadron commanded by Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee. Müller allowed the sailors to line the deck in shifts, "singing to the band and staring at the German town spread out behind them in the low sun of evening" one last time.

On 8 August 1914, Emden rendezvoused with Spee's squadron at Pagan Island in the northern Marianas, then a German colony. Admiral von Spee wanted the squadron to stay united and attempt to reach Germany, but agreed to Captain von Müller's suggestion of deploying a single light cruiser to raid British merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean. Taking along the collier Markomannia "with a full load of first-class coal," the Emden detached from the fleet on 14 August 1914.

Heading for the German Palau Islands, Emden met the gunboat Geier and informed her captain of the latest war news. Müller then began coaling his ship off Timor in the Dutch East Indies. Emden was intercepted by the neutral 5,300 ton Dutch coastal defense ship Tromp and "an elaborate exchange of courtesies ensued." Commander Müller, of lower rank and in Dutch colonial waters, called on the Dutch captain aboard Tromp. Her Captain politely explained the proclamation of neutrality of his nation and offered refreshments to his German guests. After the completion of coaling, Emden left, but deciphered a Dutch radio transmission reporting the passage of a four-funnel British warship in violation of Dutch neutrality. Taking advantage of the report, Müller built a dummy fourth smokestack on the ship’s superstructure to resemble the British cruiser HMS Yarmouth. On 28 August 1914, Emden then slipped through the narrow strait between Bali and Lombok into the Indian Ocean, her collier several miles astern in her wake.