The German battleship S.M.S. Emden.

S.M.S. "Emden."

Logo: C Hamburg, and number 3274

Reverse:

Verlag M.L. Carstens, Hamburg 20

Reproduction K. Koch, Kiel

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With her sister ship Dresden, S.M.S. Emden was part of Germany's East Asiatic Squadron stationed in Tsingtao, China under the command of Rear Admiral von Spee.

On August 2, 1914, after Germany declared war on Russia, Emden captured a Russian steamer, and returned with it to Tsingtao. Fearing war with Britain's ally Japan, Emden put to sea on August 5 to rendezvous with von Spee in the Marianas Islands. Spee headed east across the Pacific, while Captain Müller of Emden turned west to pursue Entente shipping in the Indian Ocean.

Emden passed along the southwest coasts of Java and Sumatra. From September 10 to 23, it cruised the Bay of Bengal, seizing eight ships. On September 22, it bombarded the port of Madras, India. Around Ceylon the ship sank four more British ships before the end of the month, and captured a collier that replenished its fuel.

From October 4 to 20, Emden cruised the archipelagos southwest and west of India seizing or sinking six more ships before crossing the Bay of Bengal to Penang, British Malaya.

On October 28, Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zemcug in the Penang harbor, then followed the west coast of Sumatra, before turning west to attack a British coaling station in the Cocos Islands.

On November 9 a British wireless operator transmitted that an unidentified ship was at the mouth of the harbor, a message picked up by the Australian cruiser Sydney which hurried to meet the ship. More powerfully armed than Emden, Sydney struck the German vessel an estimated 100 times. Emden made repeated attempts to get close enough to fire torpedoes, but Sydney had destroyed most of its navigation. The crew eventually beached the ship.

A landing party that had put ashore before Sydney arrived was able to commandeer a ship and sail to Yemen, eventually making their way to Constantinople and Goeben.

Displacement: 3,650 tons; crew: 360; length: 388 ft/117m; beam: 43.5ft/13.2m; speed: 24.5k.

Emden is a battleship.

Statistics for Emden (1)

Type	Statistic	Source
Length in Meters	117 meters in length