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[Page 2]
The Capture of the Emden
Copyrighted
9th November 1914.
On the evening of the Sunday 8th November 1914 the inhabitants of the little cable settlement on Cocoa Island in the Indian ocean were visited by a strange warship. She was a four funnelled cruiser corresponding somewhat to the British Town or Yarmouth. She did not come to shore but steamed away at night time. Next morning just before sunrise the same cruiser was seen approaching the island again. She was clearly intending to send a boat ashore; but this time as she approached the beach her aftmost funnel was seen to wobble & then come down on the deck. It is not known whether this was an accident or not but the people at the wireless station had just time to send one message broadcast over the Indian Ocean when three boats put off from the cruiser & a strong landing party arrived at the island
(Actual message sent out:- CQ de VPK – SOS.SOS.SOS. STRANGE WARSHIP IN ENTRANCE – SOS. VPK) They were Germans. The strange warship had refused to answer the wireless calls sent out to her from Cocos Island & began to make signals to some other unknown ship nearby, When Cocos sent out its warning call, the stranger tried to drown it by loud wireless calls. That warning however was picked up by H.M.S. Sydney about 60 miles a way. The Sydney turned & made straight for Cocos. Her speed averaged 20 knots. At (9.15 am land was seen ahead about 17 miles away. Almost immediately to the right & behind it was seen the smoke of a steamer. The Sydney was now covering 1 mile every two minutes, & the masts 7 funnels of the other ship came quickly into sight. The stranger got underway & began to move out at a rapidly increasing pace to the northwards.
The officers were practically certain that the stranger was the cruiser that had already sunk 20 British merchantmen 7 done 2 ½ million pounds worth of damage, - THE EMDEN. She looked a very pretty little ship as she came out. The Germans ashore who had not time to get back to their ship could not refrain from gathering to watch her. The british residents collected on the roof of the cable station, the largest building on the main island & they & the Germans watched as if from a galley one of the prettiest little naval actions fought. As the Emden had 10:4 inch guns & the Sydney 8:6 inch guns, it was the Emden's game to close & use her guns at that short range at which they were most effective. This she tried to do again & again but the Sydney would never let her do it. The Sydney's engines were in perfect condition. & during the fight when speed was called for sheet at time averaged over 30 knots.
The Emden was never a match for her in this respect, even before the event took place, which placed her at the Sydney's mercy. As the Emden came out, the distance rapidly decreased & the range was rapidly reached at which the Sydney expected the battle to begin. She swung round on a parallel course & the order to fire had actually been given 9.40 am when the Emden surprised everyone by firing the first shot. It went whistling overhead exactly where the first broadside should go & is described as a piece of perfect shooting. The Sydney's first broadside (or salvo) also went well over the Emden. The Sydney's second salvo was a trifle irregular & fell short. Her third salvo clearly hit the Emden although the effect of her bursting shells could not be seen. The Emden's shooting at the start was extraordinarily rapid & good. Her little 4 inch guns were being fired at an extreme range, so great indeed that their elevation was as high as 30 degrees. The result was that the time her shells reached the Sydney they were falling at a very heavy angle which is made clear that the shot holes in the Sydney can be traced in almost every case to pass from an entry high up on the port side to an exit much lower on the starboard side. The Sydney's shots on the other hand pierced the Emden almost horizontally. The Emden's fore was so rapid that at times she had three salvos in the air at once on their way towards the Sydney