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Jimbuna · 11-09-14, 07:50 AM

The Destruction of the SMS Emden (an alternative viewpoint)

In a three month period since the beginning of World War One, SMS Emden had enjoyed great success in a raiding career spanning 30,000 nautical
miles (56,000 km; 35,000 mi), Emden had destroyed two Entente warships and sank or captured sixteen British steamers and one Russian merchant ship, totaling 70,825 gross register tons (GRT). Another four British ships were captured and released, and one British and one Greek ship were used as colliers.

During this period there were over seventy allied warships tasked with hunting her down, Emden was arguably the most hunted ship in the world and yet Müller managed to elude the combined efforts of highly capable battleships , the Japanese cruisers Yahaghi and Chikuma, the Russian Askold and the British Hampshire and Yarmouth, HMS Gloucester, HMS Weymouth, RMS Empress of Russia and SS Empress of Australia amongst others.

Karl_Von_Muller

In London the first lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, fired off a passionate memo "The escape of the Emden from the Bay of Bengal is most unsatisfactory, I do not understand on what principle the operations of the four cruisers Hampshire, Yarmouth, Dupleix and Chikuma have been concerted….Who is the senior captain of these four ships? Is he a good man? If so, he should be told to hoist a commodore's broad pennant and take command of the squadron which should devote itself exclusively to hunting the Emden."

In November 1914 Captain von Müller took his ship through the Sunda Strait towards the Cocos Islands, where he planned to destroy the Eastern Telegraph Company wireless station at Direction Island, thereby crippling Allied communication in the Indian Ocean. This station was co-ordinating the attack on his ship, using sighting reports.

Emden reached Direction Island on 9 November. Müller decided to send a landing party ashore under First Lieutenant Helmuth von Mücke to destroy the station's radio tower and equipment. Fifty seamen with rifles and machine guns were sent ashore. The British civilians, aware of the gallant conduct of the Emden's captain and crew, did not resist. The Emden's landing party even agreed not to knock the radio tower down over the island's tennis court. But in the extra time spent to facilitate this request , they double crossed the Germans and shot off a ham message.

Emden's landing party going ashore on Direction Island; the three-masted Ayesha is visible in the background.

The Germans attempted to jam those transmissions, but Müller now made the first mistake of a nearly error-free cruise. Instead of assuming the worst and returning to sea he prepared to coal from the nearby Buresk. It was too late and personal retribution was not the Emden style.

The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, was dispatched to reach Direction Island at 9th Nov at 0630 hours from an Australian troop convoy en route to Colombo. Being a mere 55 miles north of the Island, she arrived there in about two hours.

John Collings Taswell Glossop

Shortly after 9 a.m., the lookout reported a ship to the north. Initially, crewmen thought the stranger was Buresk, but when they saw it approaching very rapidly and recognized four funnels, the Germans knew they were in trouble. Müller signalled frantically for the shore party to return. When it was slow to respond, the raider raised anchor and steamed out of the harbor at about 9:30.

The stranger proved to be an Australian light cruiser, HMAS Sydney, commanded by Captain John Glossop. The fifty-six-hundred-ton Sydney mounted eight 6-inch guns, and was capable of a flank speed of twenty-five knots. In the three areas that mattered—speed, firepower, and armour—it far outclassed Emden. Absent a storm—and the weather was clear—Emden could neither outfight its opponent nor escape.

Müller's one hope lay in the torpedo. Outside the harbor he turned toward his adversary, who himself turned so that both vessels were heading north.
Müller later wrote, "I had to attempt to inflict such damage…with the guns that he would be slowed down in speed significantly before I could switch to a promising torpedo attack." Captain Glossop would write, "I sighted almost immediately the smoke of a ship, which proved to be Emden, coming out towards me at a great rate….I kept my distance as much as possible to obtain the advantage of my [heavier] guns."

Briefly, Emden demonstrated the superior gunnery that would become a hallmark of the kaiser's fleet. The raider scored repeatedly with its 4.1-inch guns, but the 35-pound projectiles inflicted only superficial damage. Then Sydney began to batter the raider with its 6-inch guns. One of Emden's engineering officers recalled: "After the first enemy shells struck us, the motor for working the fans broke down. The temperature reached 152 F. About fifteen minutes after the action opened, hits were felt near the engines, noticeable by the ship listing to port, by floor-plates starting to move and by objects on the walls being torn from their fixtures."

An Australian correspondent on Sydney wrote: "After the lapse of about three-quarters of an hour, the Emden had lost two funnels and the foremast; she was badly on fire aft and amidships, so that at times nothing more than the top of the mainmast could be seen amid the clouds of steam and smoke. Her guns, now only occasionally firing, gave out a short yellow flash by which they could be distinguished by the dark red flames of the Sydney's bursting lyddite."

The fight went on for nearly an hour and a half, Emden herself suffered serious damage, being struck over 100 times by shells from Sydney. Captain von Muller, unable to bring his torpedoes to bear, his ship a veritable slaughter-house, and his guns impotent, forced himself to order the ship run aground on the closest reef off North Keeling Island so that the wounded might live without drowning. The Emden was now incapable of fighting, and lay a helpless wreck on a coral reef, heavily listed to port , at 1115 AM on 9th Nov.

Emden, beached on North Keeling Island

At this point Müller's collier, appeared at a very inopportune moment and Sydney left the scene to pursue the collier Buresk which had just cast off from Emden while bunkering at anchor. The Germans aboard the Buresk stared in consternation at the charging Sydney, and at the smoking, fireblackened hulk that had once been the silvery Emden but they could still cheat the British out of the pleasure of recovering a war prize. Thus, even as the British ordered them to surrender, they were busy scuttling the Buresk. The small arms were thrown overboard, the secret papers burnt, and the wireless station destroyed.

Meanwhile two boats were cleared and provisioned for the the remaining crew in case the Sydney showed her meanness and refused to take the Buresk's crew aboard her. Thus, Capt Glossep found himself with a few mangy lifeboats in tow instead of a war prize. This took away some of his glow, and it was said that he cursed and swore on the bridge at the Germans for their trick. He could NOT fire as the Buresk communicated that they had British cooks on board.

Returning at 1630 hours to the beached cruiser, Sydney's commander, Captain John Glossop, in a most disgraceful and foul manner , re-opened fire, taking out all his personal pent up frustrations on Capt Muller. Capt Glossop did NOT allow his conscience to overtake his criminal and mean nature as he ordered salvo after salvo on to the totally disabled and listed Emden at 4 PM. 2/3 of Emden was lying on the reef, and there was no way she could shoot back.

As salvo after salvo hit, the firmly grounded Emden was reduced to a blitzed and twisted mass of blazing metal.

Sydney had always shot at Emden from " beyond Emden guns range " -- even if Emden wanted to shoot back there was NO way this could be done. Only a torpedo from Emden meant any danger to Sydney, and this could NOT be done in this grounded position.

Finally, as an Aussie sailor on Sydney noted later "The mutilation of the dead and splattered blood and bone fragments was beyond belief."

It was said Capt Glossop's own men on Sydney were glaring at him accusingly, some young sailors were crying.

Capt Von Muller noted that he did NOT have a flag mast , as the area was burning, and quickly arranged a white hospital bedsheet to flutter. Sydney then instead of attending to the wounded on Emden as per seagoing traditions and code of conduct in war, steamed to Direction Island to check out the wireless equipment. Glossop then decided to lay off and approach Emden the next afternoon at 1300 hrs on 10th.

Captain von Muller tried to organize the survivors into rescue parties so that the wounded could be brought up on deck for transfer to the island. In rough weather the breeched buoy broke. He gave permission to everyone on deck to swim to the island. During that night Surgeon Schwabe, who had swum to land, succumbed to his wounds

After a disgraceful delay of 21 hours, where in wounded men on Emden either bled to death or developed gangrene, the Captain and crew of Sydney after havng partaken in breakfast and lunch came back and sent two boats with an officer to the Emden with the information that the commander of
the Sydney was ready to take aboard the survivors of the Emden's crew.

Glossop later said that he "felt like a murderer" for ordering the last salvoes, but had no choice under the circumstances.

The Emden lost 134 killed and 65 severely wounded. The Sydney lost 4 killed and 12 wounded.The boarding survivor Germans did not moan, nor whimper nor malinger.

Captain von Muller was the last to leave as was proper for the commanding officer of a defeated vessel. Meanwhile he made sure that the guns were made unserviceable by throwing overboard the breech-blocks and destroying the sights, the torpedo-director was thrown overboard and all the secret papers that had not been already burnt were destroyed. He ordered fires to be drawn in all boilers, and all the engine and boiler rooms to be flooded.

Capt von Muller then resigned himself to waiting aboard the wreck until the Sydney returned.

One of Emden 's 10.5 cm guns in Hyde Park, Sydney.

Historians, Writer and Sellick record the extraordinary scene when von Muller, with a guard of honour, was piped aboard the Sydney:

"Capt John CT Glossop greeted him on the gangway, shook his adversary's hand firmly, he would not meet Capt Muller’s steely eyes. In a gesture of conscience that made every onlooking eye moist, Capt Glossop suddenly put his arm around Capt von Muller's shoulder, and led him to his own cabin.
He proved that he was human and NOT an animal."

The surviving German crew, were transferred to the SS Empress of Russia and taken to Colombo.

Müller had the Iron Cross First Class bestowed upon him by Kaiser Wilhelm II. In fact, every officer serving on the Emden was awarded the Iron Cross First Class and 50 crewmen were given the Iron Cross Second Class.

On October 8, 1916, Müller was separated from the rest of the Emden crew prisoners and taken to England where he was interned at a prisoner of war camp for German officers located at the Midlands Agricultural and Dairy College (now the Sutton Bonington Campus of the University of Nottingham).

In 1917 he led an escape of 21 prisoners through an underground tunnel, but was recaptured. From a corner of a hut inside the POW camp at Sutton Bonington, located in what today is the campus of the University of Nottingham agricultural science college, the prisoners had dug a shaft about
four feet deep and then tunneled more than 120 feet under the electrified barbed wire fences and a private road, to the outside world, under Capt Muller’s leadership.

The tons of earth that had been dug out had been scattered all over the prison grounds quietly. They had fashioned civilian clothes from old blankets and discarded pieces of material. They had squirreled away provisions, made maps, even a home-made compass.

Capt Muller was one of the 22 fugitives who emerged out of a tunnel into a turnip field and scattered in small groups across the nearby farmland, triggering a massive manhunt that involved the military, police and special constables, a contingent of the Royal Naval Air Service from RAF Cranwell,
Boy Scouts, farmers, gamekeepers and even women. It took only one week to round up all the prisoners.

To a man they gave up without a fight, most of them too cold, tired and thirsty to carry on, most of them were disabled due to malnutrition and cramps. The majority were found within a few miles of the camp, hiding out in ditches and woods.

Capt von Muller and his comrades were tried by the British at Derby Assizes. Among the charges was the theft of blankets belonging to King George V.

They were given a variety of short jail sentences, von Muller getting 58 days.

Most of Emden's survivors spent the remainder of the war as prisoners on Malta. Müller was imprisoned first on Malta and then in England. The climate of England disagreed with his malaria, and he was eventually sent to the Netherlands for treatment as part of a humanitarian prisoner exchange.
In October 1918 he was repatriated to Germany.

His executive officer, Mucke (I believe Steve is going to post details of him and his mens exploits/adventures in returning home), made the most of his experiences on Emden and prospered after the war as an author and lecturer. Müller, in contrast, declined most invitations to speak and lived quietly at his home in Blankenburg until his death in 1923. Asked once why he did not write a memoir, Müller replied, "I should not be able to escape the feeling that I was coining money from the blood of my comrades."

Capt Karl Von Muller, the German naval ship Captain of SMS.Emden, renowned for his daring, valor and chivalry to the losers during the First World War...was he the greatest wartime sea captain ever?

Most of the above content was gleaned from a variety of sites such as those listed below and as such all credit and recognition should be duly given:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_von_M%C3%BCller
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Emden_(1908)
http://www.historynet.com/karl-fried...orld-war-i.htm
http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.co.uk/...-karl-von.html

11-09-14, 07:50 AM	#83
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 191,139 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	The Destruction of the SMS Emden (an alternative viewpoint) In a three month period since the beginning of World War One, SMS Emden had enjoyed great success in a raiding career spanning 30,000 nautical miles (56,000 km; 35,000 mi), Emden had destroyed two Entente warships and sank or captured sixteen British steamers and one Russian merchant ship, totaling 70,825 gross register tons (GRT). Another four British ships were captured and released, and one British and one Greek ship were used as colliers. During this period there were over seventy allied warships tasked with hunting her down, Emden was arguably the most hunted ship in the world and yet Müller managed to elude the combined efforts of highly capable battleships , the Japanese cruisers Yahaghi and Chikuma, the Russian Askold and the British Hampshire and Yarmouth, HMS Gloucester, HMS Weymouth, RMS Empress of Russia and SS Empress of Australia amongst others. Karl_Von_Muller In London the first lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, fired off a passionate memo "The escape of the Emden from the Bay of Bengal is most unsatisfactory, I do not understand on what principle the operations of the four cruisers Hampshire, Yarmouth, Dupleix and Chikuma have been concerted….Who is the senior captain of these four ships? Is he a good man? If so, he should be told to hoist a commodore's broad pennant and take command of the squadron which should devote itself exclusively to hunting the Emden." In November 1914 Captain von Müller took his ship through the Sunda Strait towards the Cocos Islands, where he planned to destroy the Eastern Telegraph Company wireless station at Direction Island, thereby crippling Allied communication in the Indian Ocean. This station was co-ordinating the attack on his ship, using sighting reports. Emden reached Direction Island on 9 November. Müller decided to send a landing party ashore under First Lieutenant Helmuth von Mücke to destroy the station's radio tower and equipment. Fifty seamen with rifles and machine guns were sent ashore. The British civilians, aware of the gallant conduct of the Emden's captain and crew, did not resist. The Emden's landing party even agreed not to knock the radio tower down over the island's tennis court. But in the extra time spent to facilitate this request , they double crossed the Germans and shot off a ham message. Emden's landing party going ashore on Direction Island; the three-masted Ayesha is visible in the background. The Germans attempted to jam those transmissions, but Müller now made the first mistake of a nearly error-free cruise. Instead of assuming the worst and returning to sea he prepared to coal from the nearby Buresk. It was too late and personal retribution was not the Emden style. The Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, was dispatched to reach Direction Island at 9th Nov at 0630 hours from an Australian troop convoy en route to Colombo. Being a mere 55 miles north of the Island, she arrived there in about two hours. John Collings Taswell Glossop Shortly after 9 a.m., the lookout reported a ship to the north. Initially, crewmen thought the stranger was Buresk, but when they saw it approaching very rapidly and recognized four funnels, the Germans knew they were in trouble. Müller signalled frantically for the shore party to return. When it was slow to respond, the raider raised anchor and steamed out of the harbor at about 9:30. The stranger proved to be an Australian light cruiser, HMAS Sydney, commanded by Captain John Glossop. The fifty-six-hundred-ton Sydney mounted eight 6-inch guns, and was capable of a flank speed of twenty-five knots. In the three areas that mattered—speed, firepower, and armour—it far outclassed Emden. Absent a storm—and the weather was clear—Emden could neither outfight its opponent nor escape. Müller's one hope lay in the torpedo. Outside the harbor he turned toward his adversary, who himself turned so that both vessels were heading north. Müller later wrote, "I had to attempt to inflict such damage…with the guns that he would be slowed down in speed significantly before I could switch to a promising torpedo attack." Captain Glossop would write, "I sighted almost immediately the smoke of a ship, which proved to be Emden, coming out towards me at a great rate….I kept my distance as much as possible to obtain the advantage of my [heavier] guns." Briefly, Emden demonstrated the superior gunnery that would become a hallmark of the kaiser's fleet. The raider scored repeatedly with its 4.1-inch guns, but the 35-pound projectiles inflicted only superficial damage. Then Sydney began to batter the raider with its 6-inch guns. One of Emden's engineering officers recalled: "After the first enemy shells struck us, the motor for working the fans broke down. The temperature reached 152 F. About fifteen minutes after the action opened, hits were felt near the engines, noticeable by the ship listing to port, by floor-plates starting to move and by objects on the walls being torn from their fixtures." An Australian correspondent on Sydney wrote: "After the lapse of about three-quarters of an hour, the Emden had lost two funnels and the foremast; she was badly on fire aft and amidships, so that at times nothing more than the top of the mainmast could be seen amid the clouds of steam and smoke. Her guns, now only occasionally firing, gave out a short yellow flash by which they could be distinguished by the dark red flames of the Sydney's bursting lyddite." The fight went on for nearly an hour and a half, Emden herself suffered serious damage, being struck over 100 times by shells from Sydney. Captain von Muller, unable to bring his torpedoes to bear, his ship a veritable slaughter-house, and his guns impotent, forced himself to order the ship run aground on the closest reef off North Keeling Island so that the wounded might live without drowning. The Emden was now incapable of fighting, and lay a helpless wreck on a coral reef, heavily listed to port , at 1115 AM on 9th Nov. Emden, beached on North Keeling Island At this point Müller's collier, appeared at a very inopportune moment and Sydney left the scene to pursue the collier Buresk which had just cast off from Emden while bunkering at anchor. The Germans aboard the Buresk stared in consternation at the charging Sydney, and at the smoking, fireblackened hulk that had once been the silvery Emden but they could still cheat the British out of the pleasure of recovering a war prize. Thus, even as the British ordered them to surrender, they were busy scuttling the Buresk. The small arms were thrown overboard, the secret papers burnt, and the wireless station destroyed. Meanwhile two boats were cleared and provisioned for the the remaining crew in case the Sydney showed her meanness and refused to take the Buresk's crew aboard her. Thus, Capt Glossep found himself with a few mangy lifeboats in tow instead of a war prize. This took away some of his glow, and it was said that he cursed and swore on the bridge at the Germans for their trick. He could NOT fire as the Buresk communicated that they had British cooks on board. Returning at 1630 hours to the beached cruiser, Sydney's commander, Captain John Glossop, in a most disgraceful and foul manner , re-opened fire, taking out all his personal pent up frustrations on Capt Muller. Capt Glossop did NOT allow his conscience to overtake his criminal and mean nature as he ordered salvo after salvo on to the totally disabled and listed Emden at 4 PM. 2/3 of Emden was lying on the reef, and there was no way she could shoot back. As salvo after salvo hit, the firmly grounded Emden was reduced to a blitzed and twisted mass of blazing metal. Sydney had always shot at Emden from " beyond Emden guns range " -- even if Emden wanted to shoot back there was NO way this could be done. Only a torpedo from Emden meant any danger to Sydney, and this could NOT be done in this grounded position. Finally, as an Aussie sailor on Sydney noted later "The mutilation of the dead and splattered blood and bone fragments was beyond belief." It was said Capt Glossop's own men on Sydney were glaring at him accusingly, some young sailors were crying. Capt Von Muller noted that he did NOT have a flag mast , as the area was burning, and quickly arranged a white hospital bedsheet to flutter. Sydney then instead of attending to the wounded on Emden as per seagoing traditions and code of conduct in war, steamed to Direction Island to check out the wireless equipment. Glossop then decided to lay off and approach Emden the next afternoon at 1300 hrs on 10th. Captain von Muller tried to organize the survivors into rescue parties so that the wounded could be brought up on deck for transfer to the island. In rough weather the breeched buoy broke. He gave permission to everyone on deck to swim to the island. During that night Surgeon Schwabe, who had swum to land, succumbed to his wounds After a disgraceful delay of 21 hours, where in wounded men on Emden either bled to death or developed gangrene, the Captain and crew of Sydney after havng partaken in breakfast and lunch came back and sent two boats with an officer to the Emden with the information that the commander of the Sydney was ready to take aboard the survivors of the Emden's crew. Glossop later said that he "felt like a murderer" for ordering the last salvoes, but had no choice under the circumstances. The Emden lost 134 killed and 65 severely wounded. The Sydney lost 4 killed and 12 wounded.The boarding survivor Germans did not moan, nor whimper nor malinger. Captain von Muller was the last to leave as was proper for the commanding officer of a defeated vessel. Meanwhile he made sure that the guns were made unserviceable by throwing overboard the breech-blocks and destroying the sights, the torpedo-director was thrown overboard and all the secret papers that had not been already burnt were destroyed. He ordered fires to be drawn in all boilers, and all the engine and boiler rooms to be flooded. Capt von Muller then resigned himself to waiting aboard the wreck until the Sydney returned. One of Emden 's 10.5 cm guns in Hyde Park, Sydney. Historians, Writer and Sellick record the extraordinary scene when von Muller, with a guard of honour, was piped aboard the Sydney: "Capt John CT Glossop greeted him on the gangway, shook his adversary's hand firmly, he would not meet Capt Muller’s steely eyes. In a gesture of conscience that made every onlooking eye moist, Capt Glossop suddenly put his arm around Capt von Muller's shoulder, and led him to his own cabin. He proved that he was human and NOT an animal." The surviving German crew, were transferred to the SS Empress of Russia and taken to Colombo. Müller had the Iron Cross First Class bestowed upon him by Kaiser Wilhelm II. In fact, every officer serving on the Emden was awarded the Iron Cross First Class and 50 crewmen were given the Iron Cross Second Class. On October 8, 1916, Müller was separated from the rest of the Emden crew prisoners and taken to England where he was interned at a prisoner of war camp for German officers located at the Midlands Agricultural and Dairy College (now the Sutton Bonington Campus of the University of Nottingham). In 1917 he led an escape of 21 prisoners through an underground tunnel, but was recaptured. From a corner of a hut inside the POW camp at Sutton Bonington, located in what today is the campus of the University of Nottingham agricultural science college, the prisoners had dug a shaft about four feet deep and then tunneled more than 120 feet under the electrified barbed wire fences and a private road, to the outside world, under Capt Muller’s leadership. The tons of earth that had been dug out had been scattered all over the prison grounds quietly. They had fashioned civilian clothes from old blankets and discarded pieces of material. They had squirreled away provisions, made maps, even a home-made compass. Capt Muller was one of the 22 fugitives who emerged out of a tunnel into a turnip field and scattered in small groups across the nearby farmland, triggering a massive manhunt that involved the military, police and special constables, a contingent of the Royal Naval Air Service from RAF Cranwell, Boy Scouts, farmers, gamekeepers and even women. It took only one week to round up all the prisoners. To a man they gave up without a fight, most of them too cold, tired and thirsty to carry on, most of them were disabled due to malnutrition and cramps. The majority were found within a few miles of the camp, hiding out in ditches and woods. Capt von Muller and his comrades were tried by the British at Derby Assizes. Among the charges was the theft of blankets belonging to King George V. They were given a variety of short jail sentences, von Muller getting 58 days. Most of Emden's survivors spent the remainder of the war as prisoners on Malta. Müller was imprisoned first on Malta and then in England. The climate of England disagreed with his malaria, and he was eventually sent to the Netherlands for treatment as part of a humanitarian prisoner exchange. In October 1918 he was repatriated to Germany. His executive officer, Mucke (I believe Steve is going to post details of him and his mens exploits/adventures in returning home), made the most of his experiences on Emden and prospered after the war as an author and lecturer. Müller, in contrast, declined most invitations to speak and lived quietly at his home in Blankenburg until his death in 1923. Asked once why he did not write a memoir, Müller replied, "I should not be able to escape the feeling that I was coining money from the blood of my comrades." Capt Karl Von Muller, the German naval ship Captain of SMS.Emden, renowned for his daring, valor and chivalry to the losers during the First World War...was he the greatest wartime sea captain ever? Most of the above content was gleaned from a variety of sites such as those listed below and as such all credit and recognition should be duly given: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_von_M%C3%BCller http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Emden_(1908) http://www.historynet.com/karl-fried...orld-war-i.htm http://ajitvadakayil.blogspot.co.uk/...-karl-von.html __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!