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Postcard of the German battleship Emden, which fled the German colony of Tsingtao, China on August 7, 1914, and raided Allied Shipping in the Indian Ocean until being sunk by the Australian light cruiser Sydney on November 9. Handkolorit (imit.) Kreuzer 'Emden' vernichtet englische Handelsschiffe in der Bai von Bengalen Hand coloring (imitated) Cruiser 'Emden' destroys English commercial ships in the Bay of Bengal Reverse (original German below): The World War 1914 Operational success of the German cruiser 'Emden.' September 1914 While the German fleet was watchful and ready for battle, their foreign ships made themselves felt by bold blows. 'Emden', a 1908 armed cruiser of 3,650 tons, cruised in the Bay of Bengal and, to the dismay of the English, seized and sank all vessels encountered sailing under the British flag. Thus the fate, in the period from September 10th to 14th, of the steamers 'Indus,' 'Loo,' 'Kabinga,' 'Killin,' 'Diplomat' and 'Tratbock,' whose crews were sent in another craft to Calcutta. In the last third of September in the Indian Ocean 'Emden' sank the steamers 'Tumerico,' 'Kinglud,' 'Ribeira' and 'Toyle' and seized a coal ship bearing its crew to Colombo. In between, 'Emden' shelled Madras with 9 shots, hitting the petroleum tanks, two of which caught fire with the loss of a half million gallons of oil. No wonder that the British, whose losses amounted to over 20 million marks in the loss of 11 steamers and their cargo, hunted the 'Emden'; they hung fire, as the saying goes, no, they would have him, then! Postmarked December 19, 1914. Der Weltkrieg 1914. Erfolgreiche Tätigkeit des deutschen Kreuzers 'Emden.' September 1914. Während die deutsche Flotte kampfbereit auf der Wacht lag, machten sich ihre Auslandschiffe durch kühne Handstreiche bemerkbar. 'Emden,' ein geschützer Kreuz

Postcard of the German battleship Emden, which fled the German colony of Tsingtao, China on August 7, 1914, and raided Allied Shipping in the Indian Ocean until being sunk by the Australian light cruiser Sydney on November 9.

Image text

Handkolorit (imit.)

Kreuzer 'Emden' vernichtet englische Handelsschiffe in der Bai von Bengalen



Hand coloring (imitated)

Cruiser 'Emden' destroys English commercial ships in the Bay of Bengal



Reverse (original German below):

The World War 1914

Operational success of the German cruiser 'Emden.' September 1914

While the German fleet was watchful and ready for battle, their foreign ships made themselves felt by bold blows. 'Emden', a 1908 armed cruiser of 3,650 tons, cruised in the Bay of Bengal and, to the dismay of the English, seized and sank all vessels encountered sailing under the British flag. Thus the fate, in the period from September 10th to 14th, of the steamers 'Indus,' 'Loo,' 'Kabinga,' 'Killin,' 'Diplomat' and 'Tratbock,' whose crews were sent in another craft to Calcutta. In the last third of September in the Indian Ocean 'Emden' sank the steamers 'Tumerico,' 'Kinglud,' 'Ribeira' and 'Toyle' and seized a coal ship bearing its crew to Colombo. In between, 'Emden' shelled Madras with 9 shots, hitting the petroleum tanks, two of which caught fire with the loss of a half million gallons of oil. No wonder that the British, whose losses amounted to over 20 million marks in the loss of 11 steamers and their cargo, hunted the 'Emden'; they hung fire, as the saying goes, no, they would have him, then!

Postmarked December 19, 1914.



Der Weltkrieg 1914.

Erfolgreiche Tätigkeit des deutschen Kreuzers 'Emden.' September 1914.

Während die deutsche Flotte kampfbereit auf der Wacht lag, machten sich ihre Auslandschiffe durch kühne Handstreiche bemerkbar. 'Emden,' ein geschützer Kreuzer von 3650 Tonnen aus dem Jahre 1908, kreuzte zum Schrecken der Engländer in der Bai von Bengalen und kaperte und versenkte alle ihm unter britischer Flagge begegnenden Handelschiffe. So in der Zeit vom 10. bis 14. Sept.

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Monday, November 9, 1914

"As soon as the Sydney got our range a good deal of damage was done to the Emden, and this increased quickly, the Sydney having fire superiority over us, as well as superior speed. About twenty minutes after beginning the fight, our steering gear went wrong. I ordered the hand gear to be manned, but its shafting had been jammed by a direct hit. Meanwhile, the ship had swung about eight points before she was checked by the screws. As the fire from our starboard guns had already weakened considerably, I let the port battery come into action. But its fire soon weakened also, from serious casualties among the guns' crews. . . .

By 1045 the Emden's upper bridge had been destroyed, the centre and aft funnels knocked over, and the foremast was over the side. . . . I was informed that the torpedo room must be abandoned on account of flooding from a hit under water. Since it was now impossible for me to do any further damage to my opponent, I decided to wreck my badly damaged ship on the weather side of North Keeling Island, rather than sacrifice needlessly the lives of those who still survived."

Quotation Context

Excerpt from the report of Captain Karl von Müller of the German battleship Emden on the destruction of his ship by the Australian light cruiser Sydney on November 9, 1914. Emden had been part of the German East Asiatic Squadron based in Tsingtao, China, and had fled when war began. While most of the Squadron headed east across the Pacific, Emden raided Allied shipping in the Indian Ocean. Sydney had been completed in 1913 and had eight 6-inch guns, easily outmatching Emden's ten 4.1-inch guns.

Source

Naval Battles of the First World War by Geoffrey Bennett, pp. 50, 51, copyright © Geoffrey Bennett 1968, 1974, publisher: Pan Books, publication date: 1983

Tags

S.M.S. Emden, Emden, battleship, Germany, 1914, 1914-11-09