THE STORY OF THE "EMDEN."
When the war broke out there was a German squadron of ships of war in
Eastern waters, its base being Tsing-tau. Admiral von Spee, who
commanded it, did not attempt to go to the rescue of the Pacific islands
when the British attacked them, but departed with most of his ships for
the west coast of South America. Two of his smaller cruisers--the
_Königsberg_ and the _Emden_--were, however, detached to prey on British
commerce in the East. You have read[136] how the _Königsberg_ caught
H.M.S. _Pegasus_ unawares, in Zanzibar harbour, and disabled her. I
shall tell you later how this vessel was finally destroyed. In this
chapter we will learn something of the career of the _Emden_.
A ship of war can do as much mischief amongst peaceful merchantmen as a
cat among pigeons. Ordinary trading ships are entirely at the mercy of a
fast cruiser armed with big guns. They have no means of resisting, and
must surrender when called upon to do so. During the American Civil War
a ship, afterwards known as the _Alabama_, was built at Birkenhead for
the Southern States. By some mistake she was allowed to leave the Mersey
and proceed to the Azores, where she was fully equipped as a vessel of
war. In August 1862 she began to prey on the merchantmen of the Northern
States, and by June 1864 she had captured and destroyed about
sixty-eight of their ships. By hoisting the British flag she decoyed
them within reach of her guns, and then they were obliged to yield. In
the end the _Alabama_ was chased by a Northern ship of war to the
English Channel, and a fight took place off the French shore near
Cherbourg. In an hour the _Alabama_ was shattered, and her career was
ended for ever.[137] Up to the time when the _Emden_ left Kiao-chau, in
August 1914, the _Alabama_ was the most successful commerce-raider of
history. The Emden, however, soon deposed her from that pride of place.
In two short months she did more damage than the _Alabama_ did in two
years.
The _Emden_ was a light cruiser of 3,544 tons displacement, and she
dated from 1908. She had a speed of 25 knots, and her armament consisted
of ten 4.1-inch guns, four 2.1-inch guns, and four machine guns, as well
as two torpedo tubes. Her captain, was Commander Karl von Müller, who
has thus been described: "Picture a young man of about thirty, tall,
clean-shaven, with closely-cropped hair and keen eyes, a
neatly-proportioned figure, a man with the manners of a drawing-room,
possessed of a keen sense of humour and an extensive knowledge of the
sea and its affairs." As the story proceeds you will learn that
Commander Müller was a man of quick, ready, and inventive mind, and that
for two months he played a successful game of hide-and-seek with the
many Allied ships of war that were bent on his destruction.
The _Emden's_ adventures began almost before she was out of sight of
Kiao-chau. She knew that Japanese men-of-war were near at hand, and that
she was more than likely to fall in with one of them. Sure enough, a
Japanese vessel was sighted; but it was not the three-funnelled _Emden_,
under the black, white, and red flag of Germany that passed the enemy
warship, but a vessel of four funnels flying the British white ensign.
The Japanese were completely deceived, especially when the _Emden's_
crew lined the rails and greeted them with three hearty British cheers.
By means of this clever trick the _Emden_ gained the open sea
unmolested.
What she did up to 10th September we do not know. Just when the first
Indian contingent was leaving for Marseilles she appeared in the Bay of
Bengal and began her career of destruction. Inside four days she had
seized and sunk five ships, and before seven weeks were over had
destroyed seventeen vessels of 70,000 tons burden, and worth more than
£2,000,000. Captain von Müller fell in with some of these ships; others
it is said that he decoyed by sending out the S.O.S. signal[138] in
defiance of the rules of war which Germany had signed at the Hague. His
practice was to close in upon his victim very quickly, destroy its
wireless apparatus before the alarm could be given, put the crew on
board one of his prizes, take what coal and provisions he required, and
then with a mine or a few shots send the captured vessel to the bottom.
It is said that when he overhauled the _Kabinga_ he discovered that the
captain's wife was on board, and released the ship. The captain's wife,
on taking leave of him, hoped that he would soon be caught, but that his
life would be spared. Commander Müller was generous to his prisoners,
and in no case were they treated harshly.
[Illustration: Captain von Müller.
(_Photo, Record Press._)]
On 22nd September the _Emden_ was off Madras, that great straggling
seaport which fronts a strand on which the sea foams in unceasing
billows. One of the _Emden's_ crew had worked in Madras, and he pointed
out to the captain the position of the oil tanks at the entrance to the
harbour. At 9.30 that night the _Emden_ crept in, turned her
searchlights on the tanks, and fired two broadsides to find the range.
Then the searchlights were turned off, and salvos were fired which set
the tanks on fire. While great flames were shooting skyward and making
the night as bright as day, the _Emden_ retired full speed northward.
The shore batteries opened fire, but their shells fell short.
[Illustration: The Emden, the famous German Commerce-raider.
_Photo, Central News._]
Next day the _Emden_ turned her nose north-east, to give the impression
that she was sailing for Calcutta, but when out of sight of land turned
southwards. Off Pondicherry[139] she paused, but perceiving that the
town was defenceless, refrained from firing a gun. She then ran past the
east coast of Ceylon to the island of Diego Garcia, in the Chagos
Archipelago, a group of low coral islands between Mauritius and Ceylon.
Diego Garcia was reached on 10th October. The few European families on
the island had not yet heard of the war, as they are only visited by a
steamer once in three months. The _Emden_ coaled at Diego Garcia, and
took on board supplies of cocoa-nuts and fish.
About the middle of October she lost her attendant collier, and with it
her reserve of ammunition, coal, and food. By this time it was clear
that her course was practically run, and that she had better do what
mischief she could to the warships and war material of the enemy before
meeting her doom.
Early on the morning of 28th October the _Emden_ was ten miles outside
Penang, in the Straits Settlements,[140] and the carpenters were set to
work rigging up a dummy funnel, to make her look like a British cruiser.
She then hoisted British colours and entered the harbour, in which
several ships could be seen, with an unknown cruiser well in front of
them. When the _Emden_ entered the harbour she discovered that this
cruiser was the Russian ship _Jemtchug_. Mistaking the _Emden_ for a
British man-of-war, the _Jemtchug_ did not attempt to prevent the German
cruiser from getting between her and the land. The _Emden_ then let fly
two torpedoes, the first of which struck the Russian cruiser just under
the after funnel. The other torpedo, fired at closer range, struck her
below the bridge, and caused a terrible explosion. Meanwhile the _Emden_
was firing salvo after salvo at the _Jemtchug_, which made but a feeble
reply; all of her shots missed, but some of them hit ships in the
harbour behind.
As the _Jemtchug_ sank the _Emden_ turned and left the harbour at full
speed. Thirty miles out she fell in with the British steamer
_Glenturret_, which had signalled to the shore for a pilot, who had just
reached her in his launch. The _Emden_ had swung out her boats to take
possession of the prize when a warship appeared on the horizon. The
_Emden_ immediately recalled her boats and made off, as the warship
appeared to be a large one. This, however, was only the effect of the
early morning _mirage_.[141] At about 6,000 yards distance the newcomer
was found to be the French destroyer _Mousquet_.
The _Emden_ opened fire, and the _Mousquet_ replied, though, of course,
the destroyer was quite outclassed by the cruiser. The first few shots
from the _Emden_ hit the _Mousquet's_ engine-room, and apparently
wrecked her. "Cease fire" was then ordered, to enable the French
destroyer to surrender; but instead of doing so she showed fight once
more. A few more shots from the _Emden_ were sufficient to sink her,
bows first. About thirty-six of the crew were rescued. While this
merciful work was going on, another destroyer was seen approaching from
Penang; whereupon the _Emden_ steamed off at full speed for the Indian
Ocean. The destroyer chased her for three hours; but a heavy rainstorm
came on, and the _Emden_ escaped.
There was a good deal of discontent in England when news arrived that
the _Emden_ had sunk ship after ship, and had not been brought to
account. The Admiralty explained that searching for the _Emden_ over
vast expanses of ocean was no easy task, and that the many thousand
islands of the East Indies afforded her plenty of hiding-places, and the
straits between them numberless avenues of escape. To catch the raider
was a matter of time, patience, and good luck. The Germans were highly
delighted that their ship had proved such a will o' the wisp, and one of
their papers contained a caricature showing the _Emden_ as a
Jack-in-the-box that continually popped up to the annoyance of John
Bull. It was inscribed, "_Emden_ über Alles," and underneath was the
following rhyme:--
"When you think you have him tightly,
He springs forth again so lightly."
We are soon to hear how, by a stroke of good luck the _Emden_ was caught
tightly and destroyed.
[Footnote 136: Vol. II., p. 170.]
[Footnote 137: She left, however, a legacy of trouble. The United States
said, with justice, that the British Government was responsible, for the
ship ought never to have been built by a neutral Power nor permitted to
leave a neutral harbour. In the end, Britain had to pay the United
States three millions of money as damages.]
[Footnote 138: The wireless signal sent out by ships in distress,
calling for immediate help.]
[Footnote 139: Chief French settlement in India, 90 miles
south-south-west of Madras.]
[Footnote 140: British Crown colony in and off the Malay Peninsula, in
south-east Asia. In the Straits Settlements are included Singapore,
Malacca, the Dindings, Penang, and Wellesley Province.]
[Footnote 141: Caused by the rays of light being bent in their passage
through layers of air of differing density, and therefore giving a
delusive appearance to objects.]