SMS EMDEN (1908)

The SMS Emden was a light cruise ( Kleiner Kreuzer in German) German of the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Outstanding in the German colony of Kiau Chau in Tsingtao, it was not part of the Squad of Admiral Graf von Spee, and dedicated himself to making a remarkable Corsican War in the Indian Ocean, hindering navigation routes and sinking more than 16 enemy ships. He constituted class with SMS Dresden and differentiated his twin for having conventional piston engines, instead of turbines.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

of 3000 t of displacement, armed with 10 105 mm cannons, more diverse machine guns.

of 118 m of length, of graceful lines, with an endowment of 361 men, had a powerful TSH device (wireless telegraphy). His commander was Karl von Müller, 40 years old.

SERVICE HISTORY

In China

In 1910, the ship is destined for the base located in the German protectorate of Tsingtao, where it participated in the containment of the Sokehs revolt in Pohnpei.

World War I

On June 20, 1914, the German cruise squad sailed towards the Pacific although the Emdem remained in Tsingtao. On June 29, the news of the murder of Archduke Francisco Fernando de Austria was received. His commander, the frigate captain Von Müller, put the ship on alert. On July 31, he was warned from Berlin that the war was imminent, so that on the night of that day he left the anchorage and entered the yellow sea. On August 4, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland declared the state of war and, that same day, the Emden captured its first dam, the Russian mail steam Ryazan , who escorted to Tsingtao. Later, he sailed accompanied by an auxiliary cruise and the carbon vessel Markomannia towards the island of Pagán.

While the German Pacific fleet was anchored under the command of Vice Admiral Count Maximilian von Spee on the island of Pagán (New German Guinea) in the Mariana Islands, it was surprised by the outbreak of World War I and prepared to go to Germany To participate in the Naval War. The commander of the SMS Emden , Karl Von Müller, at conference with Admiral Graf von Spee in the SMS Scharnhorsst, asked and achieved authorization to attack the British maritime routes in the Indian Ocean as Corsair.

Corsair in the Indian Ocean

Admiral Graf von Spee weighted Von Müller's qualities with the seemingly weak boat that he was going to direct and finally granted him what was requested. In addition, its twin the SMS Dresden was already heading to meet the fleet.

Madrles

In the first days of September, the SMS Emden made half of his prey and on the 22nd of that same month he attacked the facilities of the Burmah Oil Company in the Puerto de Madrás, bombarding them and causing some civil casualties. With this action he managed to paralyze the British trade.

Diego García Island

At the end of September he went to the island of Diego García, British colony, and there they were received - for their surprise - with great esteem from the British, who did not know about the existing state of war: the uninformed colony, He did not know that they were enemies now, he entertained them, gave a party in his honor and gave them vituallas.

On October 28, having sunk 4 merchant ships, the British Penang port attacked by surprise, disguised as a British cruise, and sank the Russian cruise Zemciug .

The successes of the SMs Emden caused great respect and admiration for who their enemies were, given the gentlemen demonstrated by Von Müller towards their prisoners and for their imaginative audacity and courage.

Cocos Island

continued operating by the Indian Ocean and on November 9, after sinking more merchants, he went to the Cocos Islands (Australia) 12 ° 11′10.24 ″ S 96 ° 49 ′ 47.07 ″ E / -12.1861778, 96.8297417 , where there was a radio station, central union of the submarine cables of Australia. While sending an assault detachment under the command of the first officer Helmuth von Mücke to destroy the island's radio station, it was able to radiate an alert message, which was intercepted by the Australian cruise HMAS Sydney, which would lead to the perdition of the German cruise.

Final Battle

Main article: Battle of the Cocos

The telegraphers of the SMS Emden miscalculated the position of the enemy cruiser and when they were finishing the maneuvers to disable the enemy installations, the Sydney suddenly came upon them, much better armed than the SMS Emden. Von Müller cut ties and accepted the unequal combat.

The German ground assault detachment escaped to the other side of the island, seized a rickety sailboat and fled under the command of the Emden's first officer, Helmuth von Mücke, who wanted to take his men to Germany. The odyssey of these men would become an epic episode.

This group of men sailed to the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) and contacted the German consul, who provided them with a steamship, with which the sailors of the Emden They sailed to the Red Sea. Once they reached the Red Sea, the Germans saw British ships, so they decided to disembark and continue on foot until they found the train line that connected Constantinople with Arabia. The sailors, once they disembarked, were received by the Turkish authorities (the Ottoman Empire was an ally of the German Empire in the First World War) and taken to Sanaa. There the Turks prevented their departure, but the Germans finally left and headed north, in search of the railway line, which they finally managed to find and from there they crossed Syria until reaching Constantinople on May 29, 1915, just after the Battle of Gallipoli. Six German sailors had died during the journey, victims of diseases and ambushes. Hellmuth von Mücke's men were welcomed as war heroes in Germany and then embarked in different naval units: by the time the war ended, half had died in combat.

The first officer of the Emden, von Mücke (1889-1957) arrived in Germany, where he was received as a hero. After the war he was a fervent pacifist, who harshly criticized the Nazis and especially Hitler, for which he was interned in a concentration camp between 1937 and 1939. Von Mücke died in 1957.

Initially the SMS Emden, with 178 men remaining, scored initial hits on the Sydney. She moved away from her artillery range and then proceeded to crush him with cannon shots. After 30 minutes, the SMS Emden was a burning wreck with 134 dead and the rest seriously injured, including von Müller.

The SMS Emden ran aground on purpose in some shallows on the North Island 11°50′12.20″S 96°49′41.25″E / - 11.8367222, 96.8281250 to avoid sinking with the wounded. They were then taken prisoner and von Müller was allowed to keep his sword in honor of his bravery. The crew and their commander were interned on the Island of Malta, which was a British colony, and then the frigate captain Karl von Müller was transferred to the United Kingdom to a camp for German officers prisoners. At the end of the war he was repatriated. In his country he was awarded the Medal of Merit. He died of malaria, which he had contracted 23 years earlier, in 1923.