SHOT TO PIECES

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2343, 28 December 1914, Page 6

SHOT TO PIECES

DRAMATIC STORY OF EMDEN'S END _ IN A TERRIBLE PLIGHT . Describing the story of the end of tho Emden, tho special correspondent of the Sydney "Snnday Times" says:—At 915 a.m. Qx& look-out reported from the foretop:— "Three-funnelled cruiser off the starkoard bow, sir." After that events happened in such fashion as to be best appreciated by the following table of times:— 9 38: The Emden opened up with a ranging shot, and the Sydney replied almost immediately. ' 9 89: The Sydney opened' fire | 10.4: The Emden'js foremost , funnel ishot nway 10.20; Explosion on the Emden by the mainmast. 10 34 • The Emden's foremast ehot , &way. 10.41: The Emden's second funnel shot away., 10 42. Explosion on>the Emden, which •was aoTv completely hid in flteam and emoke. 11 8: The Emden's third funnel shot bway, and she steered for the beach. 11.11: Tho Emden aground. 1116: The Sydney ceased fire. Total time take in action, 1 hour 86 taimitcs. Story ofitfe Fight. On. signalling the enemy from the forotop, "General Quarters" was sounded off, and everything cleared away. At first it was hard tell who it iyas, and only tuo maste and the top of throe funnels could be seen Every man on loard said- "I hope it is-the Emden IWo'll give her 20 knots; she'll have to steam faster than that to get avay from the Australian ocean flyer Sydney." On sighting her, our course was altered in her direction, and she soon came into sight, as we wore doing a good 25 knots. As soon as the ■nliole of the enemy's cruiser could be seen, we all recognised her as the Emden.

Cheer after cheer w_a9 given, when ; "the men wore told that it was really the Emden. "Now for it I" they said. "For •0.09 years we have been waiting for this, and now wo are going to show what wo 'can do." As soon as the Emden saw us, she i steamed towards ns, working up to full speed as she came. Wβ tnen altered course to starboard, so as to" get more ' guns to bear. The Emden altered to . port, and so we gradually closed in on '■each other. The -.Emden fired the first shot by ■■opening fir© with a ranging gun. Immediately we flaw the flaen our forecastle gun also had a ranging 'shot. -.Then the tattle began. The first broadside was fired at a range of 7500 yards. Both cruisors edged in towards ono another; firing broadsides all tho time. The 1 Emdon did the better firing for the first 'six broadsides. .On board the Sydney the gunlayer of ono gun was laid out 'and a signalman sfightly wounded. Seven out of nine of the third 1 , gun, i starboard, wore .wounded.' , Tho officer end all,three, of his men in, tho after control were laid out, one man being fchot clean off the control. ' Sydney's Good Shooting. Evidently our captain thought that the Emden had had her part of the eport, and it was our turn now. Tho Emden's next broadside fell short, and .'oers knocked Jior first funnel over. The , Enidon's next over us, and ours hit her right along her battery. Goodness knows what damage it did. iWo could see the flame from the explosion, and that was all. The nest broadside from the Emden brought us bad ]uck. She fired five guns. Four of her shots fell short, , but one came over the bridgo, carrying away the signalman's halyards, through the range-finder, , knocking' if over, blew off the range- . finder man's leg, through tho hammocks lining the upper bridgo, then tho upper l)ridge screen and 1 the ship's awning, which -was lashed round" it, cutting it Hike a knife, hit the deck of tho lower ibridge, and shot through; the bridgeiscreen.. After that nothing hit us for . fioyeral minutes. Then one hit us amidphips, went through two bulkheads into the first lieutenant's cabin, hit the deck, and then shot through tho ship's side. Then the Sydney, had somo luck. Tho ' (Emdon's foremast suddenly disappeared, and at the same time- she caught fire by the mainmast. The fire burned furiously for a time, and then eased. The Emden's shots still fell short and over. The captain of tho Sydney was responsible for this. When he saw a broadside from tho Emden fall just , short of us, he would alter course and edge a bit nearer to hor. iThe Emden ■ naturally' raised her gun- , rights, and her next broadside whistled overhead. When the Emden's shots went over, we altered out a bit. The ' , 'Emden lowered Her gun-sights, and the next shots fell short. I

U The nfest 'thing to happen was tho Emden's second funnel.. It ■disappeared, r'faiid a dense cloud of steam:arose, , and V you could see the ship. , . -Wo all thought Athe Emden was done for, and' started .'•to'man the,boats for the ;rescue work, '.when/the Emden fired again./' "■ '; ■' , ;■'. ; . ;;, Only: brio Gun Left. ./ .' -/ ; > .'/'A'.rush was .made back .'to the guns, i.and.' we "fired; another broadside, . which "ppshed.hor third fumiel over. As soon * .as; ;the third r funnel disappeared .' the Emden's speed decreased, ; -She was i'.'.already';.heading landwards.- ':■ As sooii ;■'a&■Wβ had"put a few more shots info 'her. she headed.straight for the shore. One.gun only: oh her,starboard; side was the remainder boiiig';out'.of'ac- ; tion: About a Whute before the Em,,den' beached, herself .she' ceased -.firing' ' altogether. After she had' beached, we ■poured three broadsids, consisting.of 15 shots,'into herj and left herto go and chase the raeixiliant collier which had' , ibeefc lying off watching tho-'battle, ~x3 ■-. seei who was going to win. i-

■ ,'JWhenshO; saw; -thoiEmden, beach" :£o ' save' hesrelf from sinking, the •collier-' ■started to run away, but she didn't get far, ' ■ ■ Paring; the : action we got 29.3 .-'/ knots out of the Sydney, and'we kept' '■this going'. The captain gave the order .:to "Go as fast as you om,";and wo opened right out. The Sydney was built ■only for-25 knotsi but you.nevor know ~what you can do till.you're pushed. As , we .did not want to go too far away, '.' a..shot was dropped across the collier's .bows, arid she soon pulled up. " -On reaching her a boat was lowered -. by the Sydney, and an armed party ■sent on board. The vessel turned out to be the s;s. Bureskj a collier filled vnth, Welsh coal, and chartered by -the 'A<3miYalty for Bong Kong. The Emden V captured her 260 miles west of Colombo. 'A Chinese . crew . who:, had previously ■ been captured from another, merchant ship were put on board her, and made ';■ to! do,the .stoking and assist the Em- ■ den's prize crew in working the ship. : ■■'.-•'.On gotting on board'wo were informed by. the Chinese that the vessel was sinking.: Thoy were all and wanted to leave the. ship arid go on board the Australian man-of-war. Wβ • sent these off in a boat, and then mado v tie German officers and men'prisoners. ;■/.' Burned Jhelr Flag. V ■. ''.:■ ■ The collier was flying a German naval :iensign. : We. ordered her-.to strike her '■colours.. Immediately they Kad hauled down tho German, flag they burnt it in : ! the galley firo so that-we shouldn't.Ret ■■it.:-The foremost holds wcro fill'iic fast> with -water, otherwko they were jem'pty. 'The after-holds - had almost '4000.tons of.coal.iri.them.- Orders were. > ibcoiv'cd'. from;, the S.vdnoy w atnudqn y fjhip,' as-.-the■collier was smkitig last. .This-.wo .did iftor, ,^i«i.

papers. As soon as wo got away clear in the boats, four ehota were put into her. and she caught fire and rapidly sani lower in the water. Aβ,soon as the prisoners and armed party wore back on board we turned round and went to the Emden. On Hearing her wo. saw she etill flow the German ensign at her mainmast head, so we'mado a signal by flags: "Do you surrender?'"' . ; The Emden made back by Mors© flag: "What signal?" "No 6ignal-books." The Sydney thett made'by Morse flag: "Do'you surrender?" ■■ ■; . , No reply was received from the Emden, so wethen made, "Can you receive signal?" ■. ! .. ■- •' . '-. . There was no reply* so we signalled again, .''Will you surrender?" '. Neither was there any reply to this, so : ■Wβ opened fire on her, ordering our gunlayers to. aim the foot of the mainmast. Aβ we turned round-to fire with. the. other battery, a white flag was waved and: a man went aloft to haul down the German flag. As soon as it was done they burned! it, bo that: it : should 'not. bq captured ■;■ .. ■'; •.:•-'■. ; Didn't Want to be Caught Napping. '/ ■■ As soon as the Emden .surrendered, we put to sea' and steamed about' all night. The xeason we did not' start fescue work straight away was in case she had made; a signal for. help during the* action, and at the time we did not know where the Konisberg was, so., we decided : not .-to;be, caught napping. With the break of daylight we eteamed towards.the wireless station, as;'we, ■had received information from one of the prisoners that an armed party had been landed to destroy the wireless andcable stations before ■ they sighted.: us. An armed party 'from the, Sydney.consisting of 35 men and two officers in charge was,sent away in two boats.: The leading boat 'flew the white flag as a.. flag of truce. On. Bearing.the pier a white- handkerchief' was waved back to the .'boats, and' they went toward the landing -place.'; As' they came alongside cheer after cheer rang out, and immediately the: party had landed everybody wanted! to.shake hands with them. , . ■ •As soon' as we could make ourselves understood,, we. asked them, where,.the. Emden's party was, and they told us that' they. ; had left. during the. nifiht;. They also informed us. that the .Emden's party was 40 strong, with four maxim guns. The Germans planned to' let us almost iaiid; then open fire on us from the'end of the, pier with, the maxims, and\so;'. wipe us all, out..- They expected us to attack thom. over night, but •' evidently our captain knew the Germans',, thoughts'. That was. why he waited for daylight..; .■■;: '. :;. / ;

'•: v: 'Twas;a Bositer Fight. , , ■ j , Tlerp were about 'ten Australians, oh. the island, and they couldn't do enough for us. They said they • thought we were the Minotaur, .until we:got close enough for them to. see our Australian ensign at: the foremast. -They said: the fight was/bosker. They could see.it when /'we" came up their end of ,the is-, land. ■■■-'.':■ . '■ ' '■"' ■ ■'■:'}/■'. ;■ .■:■ <, : '. : '- -' v; ' ;l !. After malting inquiries as to the state of ,tii i wireless 'and cable station,' we returned : to the, boat. Whilst we were oii.:the ; island (which : w.as;.for .about 40, minutes), 'they' brought; 'Us drinks ' and; cigarettes.■galore.: ,;Coconuts were '-also brought/; up, to us by the m'ggore,' and cool drinks by..the: Chinese', boys. ■ ■ The captain' ' wanted'- the superintendent, do-ctor ,. and■ wireless operator to■ come oa board;-so we got these people into tho boat, and as we, shoved off, the re-. mainder gave us a cheer, and sanE' "For They.. Are Jolly .Good Fellows," and gave u^.tne.floo-ee.': Welaid on'our oars and: returncil the cheers.,', ,■'..,' ■;

/rjoperatbrls Leap;lnto: the Sea. .-..■; 'After getting, our visitors on.board, the captain.'Haaj'a:yarn ■with/tie;'.super-, intendent,' T and-' , 'thanljed.: the'';:,wireless operartor for'reporting the Emden so smartly. .-'After- doing this the captain went back on the bridge and .left, the operator talking to. one;; of the. officers. Tne superintendent; had previously,;got back into' : his;.boat,Tand;had shoved off. Just, then/the'ship'began to go ahead. The . officer- offere'd' to'■ ask," the' captain to stop the ship, but the operator said: ."Never mind; good-bye," took a header over thef. side''and swam to his boat, laughing- - : -': ;v - ■,:'-'.■ v: ■';..' v' ;.■;■•.■:.'; :: On arrival off the; Emden we, lowered two cutters, ■','and' pulled, towards her, flying the' Red Cross flag. The Emden was;, flying .'the ■. International". signal, ''Require immediate assistance.'.'■' ~-■■ ; The had'a- terrible job to get alongside her, as.the reef caused heavy rollers.in.shore;. All.day: Tuesday, November :10, up;till 5 p.m;, wehad our boats /■■'going.: backwards and forwards, getting the ; wounded firsthand then the prisoners./ ',•'. -/■:"■ . ; ■,■•'' ■', ,'■■. : ; /How the Emden Fared. :'■■' -■': The, forepart of the.'ship from the breakwater'to the bow,wee in? a fairly good condition, the worst damage being the hole in tne bows caused through running up : on the beach. The conning tower still stood, and all the, fittings inside were ; in /good condition, t except tho floor, which lad-been blown up By a shell that exploded.underneath. The upper bridge and chart-house had been blown away, absolutely nothing remaining of them. Of the lower bridge all that could be seen was the deck, and that was twisted , about in places. Below this again, it was all a: twisted mass of steel and iron. On the mess deck forward everything appeared to be whole, but. it was upside down. ' The sick bay right; forward was hardly damaged. 'Aβ one walked along the port .battery one could see where the giins had'once been. ' Nothing remained.of them but bent and twisted mountings. The whole length of the deok the bodies" lay as they hod fallen, some whole," some'■'half burnt, others practically; incinerated. : • . -'. : '.

Iu the' 'centre part of the ship where tho engine-room casings -".should have been was a mass of bent and torn angle iron and gratings; It was impossible to see into the engine-room' or the stokehold owing to the awful wreckage Nor could one walk fclong the starboard battery owing to the big gaping holes in the debk. 'The guns on. this side were' also missing.. They had either been-completely blown out of the ship' or else they must have fallen through to the bottom, as the gun mountings wore , missing as well. \. . Nothing But a Shell. The foremast was hanging over the side, and-the foretopmast had been' blown right off. .'The three funnels, were lying one across the other over the port side, and one had to bend down to get past them. Prom the mainmast .to right aft the ship was simply a-shell. Her inside had been scooped out by the shells penetrating tho sides and bursting inside. The officers',quarters were conspicuous by their absence. It waß a. straight drop from the quarter-deck to tho'bottom of the ship. When the firo broke out it stripped her of everything aft./ All the woodwork , of Jier decks had*been burnt off. .: Lying under the' joinings of her iron plates wero English sovereigns, halfsovereigns, and florins, together with plenty of German mark pieces. There were' also to be seen burnt bundles of; bank books. Some of the Emden's survivors told us that a very large amount , ' of English money had been thrown over the side. . ; Bodies Horribly Burned. The two quarterdeck guns were burnt and blistered terribly. The rear parts had been''completely blown off, whilst tho..sights were beyond recogniation. Tho ■ bodies of the guns' crews were lying-' about;. just as they had fallen, dowii. They wore all burnt to cinders. It- was a pitiful sight. The captain of tho Emden, tho Kaiser's nephew, a signalman, and a seaman who were in the conning ttfwer, escaped scathless, They were rondevod uacpasoipw for a .tinje tluflU£b. .tlisj

fumes of a lyddite shell, but otherwise suffered no ill. - Only three of the men. who were stationed on the upper -deck came out of the action alive, and only one of those uninjured. The Binders total, losses were" 180. killed and 60 wounded; 135 men were uninjured, and of the ten officers who were saved four were more or less seriously wounded.

The Sydney's losses were'two dead, five seriously wounded, and eight with minor injuries. This list includes the ono wounded officer. Two of our seriously wounded died and were buried at sea. The same ffite fejl to ono German officer. . . . ' ■ ' Damage ito the Sydney. The damage to.* the Sydney, is slight. The after control is completely smashed up, but that is the worst. The upper , bridge is slightly strained. There is one shot hole in our starboard side, two in: theport, and on© big hole in the forecastle. The deck waa chopped up a bit by bursting shrapnel,; and our mainmast has got a slice out of it. We also require a now range-finder, and a new range-finder man. The Emden was off Cocoa Island, not for the puTpose of stopping the convoy (she did not I know whereit was), but for the express I'purpose of capturing the Orient liner Osterley. The.Emden's crew said they had heard that the, Osterley had £5,000,000 on board, which the Germans wanted. ■ ' -.. .-. . ' Steamed Through the Lines. When, 30 miles off Colombo, the convoy was caught up, and we were asked to steam: through their lines with our crew on deck. . Our captain; consented to do this, providing there were no cheers, the reason given being consideration for : the wounded. He said: "Britishers d<? , not kick /when the enemy's'down;". . : ■;. / The troops ,all stood to attention when we;, parsed, without cheering. As we .entered Colombo harbour the new. troops also stood to attention; but one of,the Australian transports'broke the order, and cheered us again and again. They also saluted us with the "Coo-ee." I

About four ships sent their congratulations by signal. '■ Our signalman eventually got. tired of ■ hoisting the reply, which was "Thank you."' : . The : Sydney and convoy arrived at Colombo on Sunday, November 15.