Coordinates: 11.8333°S 96.

8167°E

SMS Emden

SMS Emden ("His Majesty's Ship Emden")[a] was the

second and final member of the Dresden class of light
cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy
(Kaiserliche Marine). Named for the town of Emden,
she was laid down at the Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial
Dockyard) in Danzig in 1906. The hull was launched
in May 1908, and completed in July 1909. She had one
sister ship, Dresden. Like the preceding Königsberg-
class cruisers, Emden was armed with ten 10.5  cm
(4.1 in) guns and two torpedo tubes. Emden underway in 1910

Emden spent the majority of her career overseas in the History

German East Asia Squadron, based in Tsingtao, in the German Empire
Kiautschou Bay concession in China. In 1913, Karl
von Müller took command of the ship. At the outbreak Name Emden
of World War I, Emden captured a Russian steamer and Namesake City of Emden
converted her into the commerce raider Cormoran.
Builder Kaiserliche Werft, Danzig
Emden rejoined the East Asia Squadron, then was
detached for independent raiding in the Indian Ocean. Laid down 1 November 1906
The cruiser spent nearly two months operating in the Launched 26 May 1908
region, and captured nearly two dozen ships. On 28
October 1914, Emden launched a surprise attack on Commissioned 10 July 1909
Penang; in the resulting Battle of Penang, she sank the Fate Disabled by HMAS Sydney
Russian cruiser Zhemchug and the French destroyer and grounded off the Cocos
Mousquet. Islands, 9 November 1914

Müller then took Emden to raid the Cocos Islands, General characteristics
where he landed a contingent of sailors to destroy Class and type Dresden-class cruiser
British facilities. There, Emden was attacked by the
Displacement Normal: 3,664 t (3,606 long
Australian cruiser HMAS  Sydney on 9 November
1914. The more powerful Australian ship quickly tons)
inflicted serious damage and forced Müller to run his Full load: 4,268 t (4,201 long
ship aground to avoid sinking. Out of a crew of 376, tons)
133 were killed in the battle. Most of the survivors
Length 118.3 m (388 ft 1 in)
were taken prisoner; the landing party, led by Hellmuth
von Mücke, commandeered an old schooner and Beam 13.5 m (44 ft 3 in)
eventually returned to Germany. Emden's wreck was Draft 5.53 m (18 ft 2 in)
quickly destroyed by wave action, and was broken up
for scrap in the 1950s. Installed 13,315 ihp (9,929 kW)
power 12 water-tube boilers
Design Propulsion 2 × triple-expansion steam
engines
 The 1898 2 × screw propellers
Naval Law
Speed 23.5 kn (43.5 km/h;
authorized the
construction of 27.0 mph)
thirty new light Range 3,760 nmi (6,960 km;
cruisers; the 4,330 mi) at 12 knots
program began (22 km/h; 14 mph)
with the
Complement 18 officers
Gazelle class,
Line-drawing of the Dresden class which was 343 enlisted men
developed into
Armament 10 × 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40
the Bremen and
Königsberg classes, both of which incorporated guns
incremental improvements over the course of 8 × 5.2 cm (2 in) SK L/55 SK
construction. The primary alteration for the two L/55 guns
Dresden-class cruisers, assigned to the 1906 fiscal year, 2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo
consisted of an additional boiler for the propulsion
tubes
system to increase engine power.[1][2]
Armor Deck: 80 mm (3.1 in)
Emden was 118.3 meters (388 ft 1 in) long overall and
Conning tower: 100 mm
had a beam of 13.5 m (44 ft 3 in) and a draft of 5.53 m
(3.9 in)
(18  ft 2  in) forward. She displaced 3,664 metric tons
(3,606 long tons) as designed and up to 4,268 t (4,201 Gun shields: 50 mm (2 in)
long tons) at full load. She had a crew of 18  officers
and 343 enlisted men.[3]

Her propulsion system consisted of two triple-expansion steam engines, designed to give 13,315 indicated
horsepower (9,929 kW) for a top speed of 23.5 knots (43.5 km/h; 27.0 mph). The engines were powered
by twelve coal-fired Marine-type water-tube boilers and drove a pair of screw propellers. Emden carried up
to 860 metric tons (850 long tons) of coal, which gave a range of 3,760 nautical miles (6,960 km; 4,330 mi)
at 12 knots (22  km/h; 14  mph).[3][4] Emden was the last German cruiser to be equipped with triple-
expansion engines; all subsequent cruisers used the more powerful steam turbines.[5]

The ship's main battery comprised ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40 guns in single mounts. Two were placed
side by side forward on the forecastle, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were
placed side by side aft. The guns could engage targets out to 12,200 m (40,000 ft), and were supplied with
1,500 rounds of ammunition, 150 per gun. The secondary armament consisted of eight 5.2 cm (2 in) SK
L/55 guns, also in single mounts. She had two 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes with four torpedoes, mounted
below the waterline, and could carry fifty naval mines.[3]

The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to 80 mm (3.1 in) thick. The conning tower had
100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides, and the guns were protected by 50 mm (2 in) thick gun shields.[3]

Service history
The contract for Emden, ordered as ersatz (replacement) SMS Pfeil,[b] was placed on 6 April 1906 at the
Kaiserliche Werft (Imperial Dockyard) in Danzig.[6] Her keel was laid down on 1 November 1906. She
was launched on 26 May 1908 and christened by the Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor) of the city of
Emden, Dr. Leo Fürbringer.[7] After fitting-out work was completed by 10 July 1909, she was
commissioned into the fleet.[8] The new cruiser began sea trials that day but interrupted them from 11
August to 5 September to participate in the annual autumn
maneuvers of the main fleet. During this period, Emden also
escorted the imperial yacht Hohenzollern with Kaiser Wilhelm II
aboard. Emden was decommissioned in September after
completing trials.[7]

On 1 April 1910 Emden was reactivated and assigned to the

Ostasiengeschwader (East Asia Squadron), based at Tsingtao in
Germany's Kiautschou concession in China.[7] The concession had Emden in Tsingtao in early 1914
been seized in 1897 in retaliation for the murder of German
nationals in the area.[9] Emden left Kiel on 12 April 1910, bound
for Asia by way of a goodwill tour of South America.[7][10] A month later, on 12 May, she stopped in
Montevideo and met with the cruiser Bremen, which was assigned to the Ostamerikanischen (East
American) Station. Emden and Bremen stayed in Buenos Aires from 17 to 30 May to represent Germany at
the celebrations of the hundredth anniversary of Argentinian independence. The two ships then rounded
Cape Horn; Emden stopped in Valparaíso, Chile, while Bremen continued on to Peru.[7]

The cruise across the Pacific was delayed because of a lack of good quality coal. Emden eventually took on
around 1,400  t (1,400 long tons; 1,500 short tons) of coal at the Chilean naval base at Talcahuano and
departed on 24 June. The cruise was used to evaluate the ship on long-distance voyages for use in future
light cruiser designs. Emden encountered unusually severe weather on the trip, which included a stop at
Easter Island. She anchored at Papeete, Tahiti to coal on 12 July, as the bunkers were nearly empty after
crossing 4,200 nautical miles (7,800 km; 4,800 mi). The ship then proceeded to Apia in German Samoa,
arriving on 22 July. There, she met the rest of the East Asia Squadron, commanded by Konteradmiral
(Rear Admiral) Erich Gühler. The squadron remained in Samoa until October, when the ships returned to
their base at Tsingtao. Emden was sent to the Yangtze River from 27 October to 19 November, which
included a visit to Hankou. The ship visited Nagasaki, Japan, before returning to Tsingtao on 22 December
for an annual refit. The repair work was not carried out; the Sokehs Rebellion erupted on Ponape in the
Carolines, which required Emden's presence; she departed Tsingtao on 28 December, and Nürnberg left
Hong Kong to join her.[11][12]

The two cruisers reinforced German forces at Ponape, which included the
old unprotected cruiser Cormoran. The ships bombarded rebel positions
and sent a landing force, which included men from the ships along with
colonial police troops, ashore in mid-January 1911. By the end of February
the revolt had been suppressed, and on 26 February the unprotected cruiser
Condor arrived to take over the German presence in the Carolines. Emden
and the other ships held a funeral the following day for those killed in the
operation, before departing on 1 March for Tsingtao via Guam. After
arriving on 19 March, she began an annual overhaul. In mid-1911, the ship
went on a cruise to Japan, where she accidentally rammed a Japanese
steamer during a typhoon. The collision caused damage necessitating
another trip to the drydock in Tsingtao. She returned to the Yangtze to
protect Europeans during the Chinese Revolution that broke out on 10
October.[13] In November, Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian von
Spee replaced Gühler as the commander of the East Asia Squadron.[14]
Karl von Müller, who served
At the end of the year, Emden won the Kaiser's Schießpreis (Shooting as the ship's commanding
Prize) for excellent gunnery in the East Asia Squadron. In early December, officer from 1913
Emden steamed to Incheon to assist the grounded German steamer Deike
Rickmers.[13] In May 1913, Korvettenkapitän (Lieutenant Commander)
Karl von Müller became the ship's commanding officer; he was soon promoted to Fregattenkapitän
(Commander).[4][15] In mid-June, Emden went on a cruise to the German colonies in the Central Pacific,
and was stationed off Nanjing, as fighting between Qing and revolutionary forces raged there. On 26
August, rebels attacked the ship, and Emden's gunners immediately returned fire, silencing the attackers.
Emden moved to Shanghai on 14 August.[16]

World War I

Emden spent the first half of 1914 on the normal routine of cruises in Chinese and Japanese waters without
incident.[15] During the July Crisis that followed the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria,
Emden was the only German cruiser in Tsingtao; Spee's two armored cruisers, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau,
were cruising in the South Pacific and Leipzig was en route to replace Nürnberg off the coast of Mexico.
On 31 July, with war days away, Müller put to sea to begin commerce raiding once war had been formally
declared. Two days later, on 2 August, Germany declared war on Russia, and the following day, Emden
captured the Russian steamer Ryazan. The Russian vessel was sent back to Tsingtao, and converted into the
auxiliary cruiser Cormoran.[17][18]

On 5 August, Spee ordered Müller to join him at Pagan Island in the Mariana Islands; Emden left Tsingtao
the following day along with the auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich and the collier Markomannia. The
ships arrived in Pagan on 12 August. The next day, Spee learned that Japan would enter the war on the side
of the Triple Entente and had dispatched a fleet to track his squadron down. Spee decided to take the East
Asia Squadron to South America, where it could attempt to break through to Germany, harassing British
merchant traffic along the way. Müller suggested that one cruiser be detached for independent operations in
the Indian Ocean, since the squadron would be unable to attack British shipping while it was crossing the
Pacific. Spee agreed, and allowed Müller to operate independently, since Emden was the fastest cruiser in
the squadron.[19]

Independent raider

On 14 August, Emden and Markomannia left the

company of the East Asia Squadron, bound for
the Indian Ocean. Since the cruiser Königsberg
was already operating in the western Indian
Ocean around the Gulf of Aden, Müller decided
he should cruise in the shipping lanes between
Singapore, Colombo and Aden. Emden steamed
toward the Indian Ocean by way of the Molucca
and Banda Seas. While seeking to coal off
Jampea Island, the Dutch coastal defense ship
Tromp stopped Emden and asserted Dutch
neutrality. Müller steamed into the Lombok Strait.
There, Emden's radio-intercept officers picked up Route taken by Emden during commerce raiding
messages from the British armored cruiser operations
HMS  Hampshire. To maintain secrecy, Emden's
crew rigged up a dummy funnel to impersonate a
British light cruiser, then steamed up the coast of Sumatra toward the Indian Ocean.[20]

On 5 September, Emden entered the Bay of Bengal,[21] achieving complete surprise, since the British
assumed she was still with Spee's squadron.[22] She operated on shipping routes there without success,
until 10 September, when she moved to the Colombo–Calcutta route. There, she captured the Greek collier
SS  Pontoporos, which was carrying equipment for the British. Müller took the ship into his service and
agreed to pay the crew. Emden captured five more ships;[23] troop transports Indus and Lovat and two
other ships were sunk, and the fifth, a steamer named Kabinga, was used to carry the crews from the other
vessels.[24] On 13 September, Müller released Kabinga and sank two more British prizes. Off the Ganges
estuary, Emden caught a Norwegian merchantman, which the Germans searched; finding no contraband
they released her. The Norwegians informed Müller that Entente warships were operating in the area,
which persuaded him to return to the eastern coast of India.[23]

Emden stopped and released an Italian freighter, whose crew relayed news of the incident to a British
vessel, which in turn informed British naval authorities in the region. The result was an immediate cessation
of shipping and the institution of a blackout. Vice Admiral Martyn Jerram ordered Hampshire, Yarmouth,
and the Japanese protected cruiser Chikuma to search for Emden. The British armored cruiser Minotaur
and the Japanese armored cruiser Ibuki were sent to patrol likely coaling stations.[23]

In late September, Müller decided to bombard Madras. Müller

Oil tanks burning at Madras
during the first month of Emden's raiding career in the Indian Ocean, the value of exports there had fallen
by 61.2 percent.[23]
believed the attack would demonstrate his freedom of maneuver
and decrease British prestige with the local population. At around
20:00 on 22 September, Emden entered the port, which was
completely illuminated, despite the blackout order. Emden closed to
within 3,000 yards (2,700  m) from the piers before opening fire.
She set fire to two oil tanks and damaged three others, and
damaged a merchant ship in the harbor. In the course of the
bombardment, Emden fired 130  rounds. The following day, the
British again mandated that shipping stop in the Bay of Bengal;

From Madras, Müller had originally intended to rendezvous with his colliers off Simalur Island in
Indonesia, but instead decided to make a foray to the western side of Ceylon. On 25 September, Emden
sank the British merchantmen Tywerse and King Lund two days before capturing the collier Buresk, which
was carrying a cargo of high-grade coal. A German prize crew went aboard Buresk which was used to
support Emden's operations. Later that day, the German raider sank the British vessels Ryberia and
Foyle.[25] Low on fuel, Emden proceeded to the Maldives, arriving on 29 September and remaining for a
day while coal stocks were replenished. The raider then cruised the routes between Aden and Australia and
between Calcutta and Mauritius for two days without success. Emden steamed to Diego Garcia for engine
maintenance and to rest the crew.[23]

The British garrison at Diego Garcia had not yet learned of the state of war between Britain and Germany,
and so treated Emden to a warm reception. She remained there until 10 October, to remove fouling. While
searching for merchant ships west of Colombo, Emden picked up Hampshire's wireless signals again; the
ship had departed for the Chagos Archipelago on 13 October.[26] The British had captured Markomannia
on 12 October, depriving Emden of a collier.[22] On 15 October, Emden captured the British steamer
Benmore off Minikoi and sank her the next day. Over the next five days, she captured Troiens, Exfort,
Graycefale, Sankt Eckbert, and Chilkana.[25] One was used as a collier, three were sunk, and the fifth was
sent to port with the crews of the other vessels. On 20 October, Müller decided to move to a new area of
operations.[26]

Attack on Penang

Müller planned a surprise attack on Penang in British Malaya. Emden coaled in the Nicobar Islands and
departed for Penang on the night of 27 October, with the departure timed to arrive off the harbor at dawn.
She approached the harbor entrance at 03:00 on 28 October, steaming at 18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph), with the
fourth dummy funnel erected to disguise her identity. Emden's
lookouts quickly spotted a warship in the port with lights on; it
turned out to be the Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug,[26] a
veteran of the Battle of Tsushima.[27] Zhemchug had put into
Penang for boiler repairs; only one was in service, which meant
that she could not get under way, nor were the ammunition hoists
powered. Only five rounds of ready ammunition were permitted for
each gun, with a sixth chambered.[28] Emden pulled alongside
Zhemchug at a distance of 300 yards (270  m); Müller ordered a
torpedo to be fired at the Russian cruiser, then gave the order for
the 10.5 cm guns to open fire.[26]
Map showing Emden's movements
Emden quickly inflicted grievous damage on her adversary, then during the battle
turned around to make another pass at Zhemchug. One of the
Russian gun crews managed to get a weapon into action, but
scored no hits. Müller ordered a second torpedo to be fired into the burning Zhemchug while his guns
continued to batter her. The second torpedo caused a tremendous explosion that tore the ship apart. By the
time the smoke cleared, Zhemchug had already slipped beneath the waves, the masts the only parts of the
ship still above water.[29] The destruction of Zhemchug killed 81 Russian sailors and wounded 129, of
whom seven later died of their injuries. The elderly French cruiser D'Iberville and the destroyer Fronde
opened wildly inaccurate fire on Emden.[30]

Müller then decided to depart, owing to the risk of encountering superior warships. Upon leaving the
harbor, he encountered a British freighter, SS  Glen Turret, loaded with ammunition, that had already
stopped to pick up a harbor pilot. While preparing to take possession of the ship, Emden had to recall her
boats having spotted an approaching ship. This proved to be the French destroyer Mousquet, which was
unprepared and was quickly destroyed. Emden stopped to pick up survivors and departed at around 08:00
as the other French ships were raising steam to get underway.[31] One officer and thirty-five sailors were
plucked from the water. Another French destroyer tried to follow, but lost sight of the German raider in a
rainstorm. On 30 October, Emden stopped the British steamer Newburn and put the French sailors aboard
after they signed statements promising not to return to the war.[32][33] The attack on Penang was a
significant shock to the Entente powers, and caused them to delay the large convoys from Australia, since
they would need more powerful escorts.[34]

Battle of Cocos

After releasing the British steamer, Emden turned south to Simalur,

and rendezvoused with the captured collier Buresk. Müller then
decided to attack the British coaling station in the Cocos Islands; he
intended to destroy the wireless station there and draw away British
forces searching for him in the Indian Ocean. While en route to the
Cocos, Emden spent two days combing the Sunda Strait for
merchant shipping without success. She steamed to the Cocos,
arriving off Direction Island at 06:00 on the morning of 9 Emden's landing party going ashore
November. Since there were no British vessels in the area, Müller on Direction Island; the three-masted
sent ashore a landing party led by Kapitänleutnant (First Ayesha is visible in the background
Lieutenant) Hellmuth von Mücke, Emden's executive officer. The
party consisted of another two officers, six non-commissioned
officers, and thirty-eight sailors armed with four machine guns and thirty rifles.[35][36]
Emden was using jamming, but the British wireless station was able to transmit the message "Unidentified
ship off entrance." The message was received by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, which was 52
nautical miles (96 km; 60 mi) away, escorting a convoy. Sydney immediately headed for the Cocos Islands
at top speed. Emden picked up wireless messages from the then unidentified vessel approaching, but
believed her to be 250 nautical miles (460  km; 290  mi) away, giving them much more time than they
actually had. At 09:00, lookouts aboard Emden spotted smoke on the horizon, and thirty minutes later
identified it as a warship approaching at high speed. Mücke's landing party was still ashore, and there was
no time left to recover them.[37]

Sydney closed to a distance of 9,500 yards (8,700 m) before turning to a parallel course with Emden. The
German cruiser opened fire first, and straddled the Australian vessel with her third salvo.[37] Emden's
gunners were firing rapidly, with a salvo every ten seconds; Müller hoped to overwhelm Sydney with a
barrage of shells before her heavier armament could take effect.[38] Two shells hit Sydney, one of which
disabled the aft fire control station; the other failed to explode. It took slightly longer for Sydney to find the
range, and in the meantime, Emden turned toward Sydney in an attempt to close to torpedo range. Sydney's
more powerful 6  in (152  mm) guns soon found the range and inflicted serious damage. The wireless
compartment was destroyed and the crew for one of the forward guns was killed early in the engagement.
At 09:45, Müller turned his ship toward Sydney in another attempt to reach a torpedo firing position. Five
minutes later, a shell hit disabled the steering gear, and other fragments jammed the hand steering
equipment. Emden could only be steered with her propellers. Sydney's gunfire also destroyed the
rangefinders and caused heavy casualties amongst Emden's gun crews.[39]

Müller made a third attempt to close to torpedo range, but Sydney

quickly turned away.[40] Shortly after 10:00, a shell from Sydney
detonated ready ammunition near the starboard No. 4 gun and
started a serious fire. Emden made a fourth and final attempt to
launch a torpedo attack, but Sydney was able to keep the range
open. By 10:45, Emden's guns had largely gone silent; the
superstructure had been shredded and the two rear-most funnels
had been shot away, along with the foremast. Müller realized that
his ship was no longer able to fight, and beached Emden on North
Emden, beached on North Keeling Keeling Island to save the lives of his crew. At 11:15, Emden was
Island run onto the reef, and the engines and boilers were flooded. Her
breech blocks and torpedo aiming gear were thrown overboard to
render the weapons unusable, and all signal books and secret
papers were burned. Sydney turned to capture the collier Buresk, whose crew scuttled her when the
Australian cruiser approached. Sydney then returned to the wrecked Emden and inquired if she surrendered.
The signal books had been destroyed by fire and so the Germans could not reply, and since her flag was
still flying, Sydney resumed fire. The Germans quickly raised white flags and the Australians ceased
fire.[40][41]

In the course of the action, Emden scored sixteen hits on Sydney, killing three of her crew and wounding
another thirteen.[42] A fourth crewman died later from his injuries.[43] Sydney had meanwhile fired some
670 rounds of ammunition, with around 100 hits claimed.[44] Emden had suffered much higher casualties:
133 officers and enlisted men died,[45] out of a crew of 376. Most of the surviving crew, including Müller,
were taken into captivity the next day. The wounded men were sent to Australia, while the uninjured were
interned at a camp in Malta; the men were returned to Germany in 1920.[46][47] Mücke's landing party
evaded capture. They had observed the battle, and realized that Emden would be destroyed. Mücke
therefore ordered the old 97 gross register ton schooner Ayesha to be prepared for sailing. The Germans
departed before Sydney reached Direction Island, and sailed to Padang in the Dutch East Indies. From
there, they traveled to Yemen, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany. They then
traveled overland to Constantinople, arriving in June 1915. There, they reported to Vizeadmiral Wilhelm
Souchon, the commander of the ex-German battlecruiser Goeben.[42] In the meantime, the British sloop
Cadmus arrived at the Cocos Islands about a week after the battle to bury the sailors killed in the battle.[48]

Legacy

Over a raiding career spanning three months and 30,000 nautical

One of Emden's 10.5 cm guns in
Hyde Park, Sydney
miles (56,000  km; 35,000  mi),[49] 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).[50] Another four British ships were captured and
released, and one British and one Greek ship were used as
colliers.[49] In 1915, a Japanese company proposed that Emden be
repaired and refloated, but an inspection by the elderly flat-iron
gunboat HMAS Protector concluded that wave damage to Emden
made such an operation unfeasible. By 1919, the wreck had almost
completely broken up and disappeared beneath the waves.[51] It
was eventually broken up in situ in the early 1950s by a Japanese
salvage company; parts of the ship remain scattered around the
area.[45][52]

Following the destruction of Emden, Kaiser Wilhelm II awarded the Iron Cross to the ship and announced
that a new Emden would be built to honor the original cruiser. Wilhelm II ordered that the new cruiser wear
a large Iron Cross on her bow to commemorate her namesake ship.[53] The third cruiser to bear the name
Emden, built in the 1920s for the Reichsmarine, also carried the Iron Cross, along with battle honors for the
Indian Ocean, Penang, Cocos Islands, and Ösel,[54] where the second Emden had engaged several Russian
destroyers and torpedo boats.[55] Three further vessels have been named for the cruiser in the post-war
German Navy: the Köln-class frigate Emden laid down in 1959,[56] the Bremen-class frigate Emden laid
down in 1979,[57] and the Braunschweig-class corvette Emden laid down in 2020.[58]

Three of the ship's 10.5  cm guns were removed from the wreck three years after the battle. One is
preserved in Hyde Park in Sydney, a second is located at the Royal Australian Navy Heritage Centre in
HMAS Kuttabul, the main naval base in Sydney, and the third is on display at the Australian War Memorial
in Canberra.[59] In addition, Emden's bell and stern ornament were recovered from the wreck and both are
currently in the collection of the Australian War Memorial.[60][61] A number of other artifacts, including a
damaged 10.5 cm shell case,[62] an iron rivet from the hull,[63] and uniforms were also recovered and are
held in the Australian War Memorial.[64]

In March 1921, the government of Prussia decreed that Prussian former crew members and relatives of
those serving aboard the ship during World War I were allowed to add the heritable suffix "-Emden" to
their last names as recognition for their service. Other German state governments followed suit. In March
1934, Paul von Hindenburg, who was then the president, decreed that relatives of those who had been
killed aboard the ship could also apply for the suffix.[65]

A number of films have been made about Emden's wartime exploits, including the 1915 movies How We
Beat the Emden and How We Fought the Emden and the 1928 The Exploits of the Emden, all produced in
Australia.[66][67] German films include the 1926 silent film Unsere Emden, footage from which was
incorporated in Kreuzer Emden of 1932, and Heldentum und Todeskampf unserer Emden, produced in
1934. All three films were directed by Louis Ralph.[68] More recently, in 2012, Die Männer der Emden
(The men of the Emden) was released, which was made about how the crew of Emden made their way
back to Germany after the Battle of Cocos.[69]

After the bombardment of Madras, Emden's name, as "Amdan", entered the Sinhala and Tamil languages
meaning "someone who is tough, manipulative and crafty."[70] In the Malayalam language the word
"Emadan" means "a big and powerful thing" or "as big as Emden".[71]

See also
HMAS Sydney I – SMS Emden Memorial

Footnotes

Notes
a. "SMS" stands for "Seiner Majestät Schiff" (German: His Majesty's Ship).
b. German warships were ordered under provisional names. For new additions to the fleet,
they were given a single letter; for those ships intended to replace older or lost vessels, they
were ordered as "Ersatz (name of the ship to be replaced)".

Citations
1. Herwig, p. 42. 23. Forstmeier, p. 10.
2. Nottelmann, pp. 108–114. 24. March, p. 153.
3. Gröner, p. 105. 25. March, p. 154.
4. Forstmeier, p. 2. 26. Forstmeier, p. 11.
5. Campbell & Sieche, pp. 159–163. 27. Willmott, p. 118.
6. van der Vat, p. 17. 28. Staff 2011, p. 128.
7. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 39. 29. Forstmeier, pp. 11, 14.
8. Campbell & Sieche, p. 157. 30. Staff 2011, p. 131.
9. Gottschall, pp. 156–157. 31. Corbett, pp. 337–338.
10. van der Vat, p. 18. 32. Forstmeier, p. 14.
11. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 39–40. 33. Staff 2011, p. 132.
12. van der Vat, p. 19. 34. Halpern, pp. 75–76.
13. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 40. 35. Forstmeier, pp. 14, 16.
14. Hough, p. 8. 36. March, p. 156.
15. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 41. 37. Forstmeier, p. 16.
16. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, pp. 40–41. 38. Staff 2011, p. 134.
17. Forstmeier, pp. 3–4. 39. Forstmeier, pp. 16, 19.
18. Staff 2011, p. 29. 40. Forstmeier, p. 19.
19. Forstmeier, pp. 4–6. 41. Staff 2011, pp. 136–137.
20. Forstmeier, pp. 6–8. 42. Forstmeier, p. 20.
21. Forstmeier, p. 8. 43. Bennett, p. 67.
22. Halpern, p. 75.
44. Narrative of the Proceedings of H.M.A.S.
Sydney, p. 459.
45. Gröner, p. 106.
46. Staff 2011, p. 138.
47. Forstmeier, pp. 16–19.
48. Lochner, pp. 201–202.
49. Forstmeier, p. 21.
50. Halpern, p. 76.
51. Jose, p. 207.
52. von Mücke, p. 96.
53. Hoyt, p. 212.
54. Koop & Schmolke, p. 69.
55. Staff 2008, pp. 22–28.
56. Hildebrand, Röhr, & Steinmetz, p. 60.
57. Yates, p. 310.
58. Gain, Nathan (2 February 2020). "Lürssen
Laid Keel Of Second K130 Batch 2
Corvette 'Emden' " (https://www.navalnew
s.com/naval-news/2020/02/lurssen-laid-ke
el-of-second-k130-batch-2-corvette-emde
n/). Naval News. Retrieved 17 September
2021.
59. Mehl, p. 82.
60. "Ship's bell from SMS Emden : HMAS
Sydney (I)" (http://www.awm.gov.au/collecti
on/RELAWM12275/). Australian War
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61. "Stern ornament : SMS Emden" (http://ww
w.awm.gov.au/collection/RELAWM11356/).
Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 9 April
2014.
62. "Damaged 105mm cartridge case : SMS
Emden" (http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/
REL/00378/). Australian War Memorial.
Retrieved 9 April 2014.
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Further reading
Dodson, Aidan; Nottelmann, Dirk (2021). The Kaiser's Cruisers 1871–1918. Annapolis:
Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-68247-745-8.
Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince of (1928). Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden.
New York: G. Howard Watt. OCLC 188982 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/188982).
Huff, Gunter (1994). S.M.S Emden 1909–1914, Schicksal eines Kleinen Kreuzers (in
German). Kassel: Hamecher Verlag. ISBN 978-3-920307-49-7.
Olson, Wes (2018). The Last Cruise of a German Raider: The Destruction of SMS Emden.
Seaforth. ISBN 9781526737298.
Walter, John (1994). The Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War I.
Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-55750-456-2.

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