Random Facts: The German Pirate Ship of World War I

The navies of the First World War don't get a lot of attention compared to their Second World War counterparts. In some ways this makes sense; Jutland was the only major fleet vs. fleet engagement of the war, and most of the action at sea was conducted by commerce raiders and submarines against commercial and industrial shipping. One ship of the German Empire, the SMS Emden, participated in the latter and it's one of my favorite stories of the war.

Emden

Emden was one of a number of ships constructed by the German Empire during the naval arms race that was partially responsible for the outbreak of World War I. She was laid down in Danzig in 1906 and was completed three years later. Emden was a Dresden class light cruiser, designed for long-range service in ports controlled by the young German Empire across the globe.

Commander von Müller

In 1913 Emden was put under the command of Karl von Müller who was soon promoted to the rank Emden already had a solid reputation;  she had served to bombard enemy positions during a colonial rebellion in 1911, helped protect Europeans during the Chinese Revolution in that same year, and patrolled around the Pacific. Von Müller had a similar solid reputation; he had served in Prince Heinirich of Prussia's staff and received commendations from a number of senior German military commanders, including the German grand admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. Commander von Müller fired Emden's guns in anger for the first time on August 26, 1913, when Chinese rebels attacked the ship while she was in port off the coast of Nanjing.
of Commander in the Imperial Navy.

On the outbreak of World War I Emden and her crew were the only ship in port at Tsingtao, Germany's naval headquarters in the Pacific, because the rest of the fleet was on patrol out at sea. Von Müller put to sea and on August 3, 1914 (the day after Germany declared war on Russia) he captured the Russian ship Ryazan. This was the first ship to be captured by any side during the war, and instantly made von Müller and his ship minor celebrities both back in Germany and around the world.

After the German Pacific squadron had rendezvoused, its commander Maximillian von Spee made Emden was the fastest German vessel in the Pacific, and von Spee approved of the plan. This was the last time the two naval commanders would see each other, as von Spee would be killed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands after his small squadron was annihilated by a larger British fleet only four months later.

Painting showing the destruction of SMS Scharnorst and the death of Admiral von Spee

the decision to abandon the Pacific. Japan had entered the war as an enemy to Germany, and would soon capture Tsingtao. Between the Japanese Imperial Fleet, and the British and its colonial fleets, von Spee knew that his fleet could not last long. However, von Müller requested to stay behind; this would allow Germany to sting Britain's valuable shipping in the Pacific while the rest of the fleet attempted to make a run to Germany by sailing around South America.

Commander von Müller decided that Emden would stalk the busy shipping routes between the important ports of Singapore, Colombo, and Aden to disrupt allied shipping. This mission would make Emden and her crew world famous. While navigating through the Lombok Strait in Indonesia, Emden intercepted the wireless signal from a British armored cruiser. Knowing that to be a good raider and pirate secrecy was key, von Müller ordered that a dummy smokestack be added to Emden, increasing its number of stacks from three to four. This would allow the ship to pass for a British light cruiser at a distance, which might give her time to escape if outgunned.

The tactics Emden used were simple but effective, and hearkened back to those used by buccaneers during the Golden Age of Piracy. Assisted by her fake smokestack, Emden would approach an enemy vessel with no flag raised. The other vessel would assume that the ship was British, and allow her to approach, whereupon von Müller would order the German naval ensign raised. The Germans would then broadcast a message to their prey; turn off your engines, unman your weapons, do not broadcast a radio message and prepare to be boarded.

Emden arrived in the Bay of Bengal in early September without incident; the British still believed that she was with the rest of the German squadron, and she had not been spotted thanks to von Müller's strict radio discipline and camouflage. The first ship Emden captured was a Greek collier carrying supplies for the British; amazingly the captain of the vessel agreed to enter von Müller's personal service after he offered to pay the crew! For the next month the ship stalked the waters around India, capturing 5 more ships. Von Müller transferred the prisoners from his other prizes to one of the vessels and sank the rest. After capturing a Norwegian freighter, von Müller discovered that the ship was carrying no war material and decided to let her and her crew go free. The Norwegians, astounded and grateful for this act of chivalry, warned that Emden was in danger; enemy warships were aware that a German vessel may be in the area which convinced von Müller to leave the waters he had been operating in.

Shortly after, Emden captured an Italian vessel but released it because she also wasn't carrying war material. Unlike the grateful Norwegians however, the Italians immediately contacted the British, confirming their fears of an enemy ship in their valuable colonial waters. They immediately halted all shipping off the coast of eastern India and sent six British and Japanese ships to hunt for the Emden and patrol neutral coaling stations that she was likely to use.

Commander von Müller was aware that he only had two options; continue operating in the area and pull a stunt to further humiliate the British, or flee. He chose the former, and decided to bombard the port at Madras. On September 22 he anchored 3,000 yards from the piers there and opened fire in the middle of the night. Emden fired 130 rounds in only a few minutes and escaped before the British coastal defenses could even locate the ship. Emden had managed to destroy or damage several oil tanks and sink a British merchant ship which had been at dock. The British, despite the loss to the prestige to the Royal Navy, were forced to again order a halt to shipping in the area. In less than a month Emden was responsible for the value of British exports from India to drop by over 60%, a severe blow to the economic interest of the already strained British Empire.

Oil tanks burn at the port of Madras

Into early October Emden continued to her operations, capturing or sinking several more ships. One of these, a collier, was kept and was used to support the Emden by carrying supplies. Despite these successes, the ship was running low on fuel and her crew was exhausted. von Müller decided to head for Diego Garcia, a small atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean with a small British presence and coaling station. On arriving, and expecting a fight, von Müller discovered that the British military garrison on the island had not yet learned of the outbreak of the war due to the failure of their wireless system. Showing a level of confidence bordering on arrogance, von Müller decided to stay in the port to be treated to warm receptions by the garrison. He used this time to rest his crew, rearm, and even repaint the Emden! 

The Isolated Atoll, Diego Garcia

Emden soon returned to her duties, evading the British cruiser Hampshire by detecting the vessel's radio signals. Despite their care, the British did recapture one of the Emden's captured vessels, depriving her of a coal ship. However, von Müller was not phased, and between October 15 and October 20 captured or sunk another six enemy ships! Not wishing to tempt fate (or the British) von Müller declared his activities off the Indian coast a success and decided to move to a new hunting ground.

Zhemchug

Knowing how successful his attack on Madras had been, von Müller then decided to attack the port of Penang in British Malaya. On arriving early in the morning on October 28, Müller discovered that a russian warship, the protected cruiser Zhemchug was docked there for repairs. Zhemchug was one of the unfortunate survivors of the Second Russian Pacific Squadron which had been annihilated during the Russo-Japanese War, an incident which I talk more about here. The Russian vessel was totally helpless and Emden pulled along the Russian vessel and opened fire with torpedoes and guns at a range of only 300 yards. The Russians had time to fire only a single shot at the Emden, which missed badly, before their ship was torn apart by a massive explosion which killed 81 of her crew and injured more than 100 others. Two older French vessels which also happened to be at port opened fire, but the Emden's veteran crew easily evaded their shots. Worried that reinforcements would soon arrive, the Germans began to depart, but stopped at the mouth of the harbor to capture and sink a British freighter loaded down with ammunition. While executing this operation the French destroyer Mousquet was spotted. Her crew was confused and unsure of what was happening, and the Emden quickly opened fire and destroyed her. Instead of fleeing, von Müller stopped his vessel and rescued 36 of the French crew before continuing on their way. They were released onto a British ship which the Emden captured a few days later, after promising not to return to the war against the Germans.

This attack badly shocked the Entente powers, and caused them to halt a series of convoys which were to depart of Australia loaded with troops and war material because the British were unsure if they could protect them.

Emden then decided to travel to the major British coaling station in the Cocos Islands, hoping to destroy the wireless station there and to divert enemy ships which might be looking for him. She arrived at the station on Direction Island on November 9, and sent a landing party ashore to destroy radio tower. The locals agreed to help the party, partly because they were impressed to meet some of the crew from the now famous ship, and partly because the Germans agreed to spare a tennis court near the tower which was popular with the locals! Despite  their speed though the station was able to broadcast a distress message, which was received by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. The Australians immediately headed for the island, but thanks to a mistake in charting the enemy vessels radio transmissions, von Müller believed that they were too far away to be  a threat.

German landing party arriving on Direction Island. The ship on which they would
later make their escape can be seen in the background, with three masts. 

Sydney soon arrived on the scene, and von Müller was instantly aware that he was outgunned. Sydney's guns were far larger than his own, and if damaged could quickly return to a nearby friendly port for repairs, a luxury the Emden did not have. Forced to abandon their shore party, the Emden attempted to run, but was soon overtaken. Emden opened fire first, firing shells rapidly (she was capable of firing a salvo every ten seconds) and scoring several hits. However, they caused little damage, and when Sydney returned fire her large caliber guns were devastating. Commander von Müller made four attempts to close the range so that he could use his torpedoes, but every time the Sydney simply turned away and pummeled the Emden with her superior guns which inflicted devastating damage. An hour and forty-five minutes after the battle began, Emden ceased fire. Two of her (real) smokestacks were gone, she was riddled with holes, and dozens of her crew were dead or injured.

The Emden after being crippled fighting the Sydney

Without any other options, von Müller ran his beloved ship aground on the nearby North Keeling Island in the hopes of saving his surviving crew. The crew destroyed the remaining weapons and ammunition on board, and burned their code books so that none of it would fall into enemy hands. During the short battle the Sydney lost four crewmen and suffered minor damage, but the Emden's crew of 376 suffered 133 deaths. Von Müller and what remained of his crew were captured; most were sent to a POW camp on Malta while the injured were sent to Australia, The landing party were able to escape; they stole a British vessel from Direction Island, were able to make it to Yemen, and then made an arduous journey across the Arabian peninsula and the Ottoman Empire to Constantinople, where they were then sent on to Berlin as heroes. Commander von Müller wound up in a POW camp for officers in England, where in 1917 he led an attempted escape of 21 prisoners through an underground tunnel. A month before the war ended in 1918, he was repatriated to Germany where he was celebrated as a hero.

Commander von Müller recieved the Pour le Merite (Imperial Germany's highest honor) and was promoted to a full captain. He retired from the navy in 1919, an international celebrity and one of the few German heroes to survive the war with his reputation intact. He became a politician, and died from a bout of malaria in March, 1923.

HMAS Sydney

During and after the war Emden and her crew were celebrities. Von Müller's chivalrous treatment of enemies, including allowing all men to disembark from enemy vessels before they were sunk, made him a target of praise in both German and foreign media. Von Müller was to many's eye the last of a dead breed; a swashbuckling gentleman pirate full of bravado and charm. Unlike submarines and U-Boats, Von Müller's brazen acts were seen as those of extreme gallantry. Emden was awarded the Iron Cross, as was every member of her crew. Numerous streets and other locations in Germany were named for von Müller, the Emden, or her crew, and many of those places still retain their name to this day. Four further German naval vessels were named for Emden, and all carried a painted Iron Cross in honor of their namesake; the last of these was decommissioned in 2013. In Australia the vessel became important, as did her killer the Sydney, because this was the first operation a semi-independent Australian military conducted successfully against a foreign power. More than seven films, all produced in Australia or Germany, were created featuring the Emden, with the latest German adaptation released in 2012. In the Tamil language the ship's name (modified to Amdan) entered the language as a word for someone who is tough and sneaky, and in the Malayalam language the ward Emadan means something powerful or large.

Despite this legacy, the ship and her exploits are little known here in America, but hopefully I've changed that. If you'd like to read more about the Emden and her brave pirate crew, check out the books Gentleman of War: The Amazing Story of Commander Karl Von Muller and the SMS Emden by Dan Van Der Vat, or especially The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew by Edwin Hoyt.

See you next time!