THE EMDEN.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 3, Issue 261, 31 December 1914, Page 3 (Supplement)

THE EMDEN.

HER LAST FIGHT. s < AN HEROIC PERFORMANCE. A DETAILED ACCOUNT. (From the Australian Press Representative With The Australian lorctw, Captain C. E. W. Bean.) On the evening of Sunday, November 8 the inhabitants, of the little cahlo eettlement 6n Cocos Island, in the Indian Ocean, were visited by a strange wartmip. She was a four-funnelled cruiser, corresponding somewhat to tno Brittish "town" class, and might W .been either H.M.S. Newcastle or H.M. 8 Yarmouth; She did not come to shore, but steamed away at nightfall. Next morning, just before sunrise, tbe same cruiser was seen approaching toe iland again. She was clearly intending to send a boat ashore, but this time as she approached the beach her aftermovt funnel is said for some unknown reason to havt fallen over the side. The people at the wireless station had just time to send one message broadcast over the SSL Ocean, stating that an unknown warship was off the shore, when a boat put off from the cruiser, and a strong landing party arrived at the island. la fi g paVt of th e story is not altogether XT and is necessarily at third or fourth hand, but 1 give it as 1 heard it. Allof what followed can be vouched lor. The strange warship had refused to answer the wireless signals sent out to her hvCocos Island, but instead began mak&E*to some other unknown ships near bv When Cocos Island sent out signal the stranger tn«d to drown it by loud wireless calls. , THE FIRST SIGHT.

That warning signal was Picked up by H.M.A.S. Sydney, about oO md« away. The Sydney turned and made 1 Straight in the direction of the call. Her sneed at this time averagea about 20 HE At 9.15 o'clock land was seen SEI about 17 mile* distant Almost immediately afterwards a little to the the smoke of a steamer. The smoke wee ; JuitTstationary. The Sydney was now approaching the island .at about the rate of on6%ile in two minutes, and the mast? and funnels of came quickly into s'ght. Tho stiang- , erTot undcf way, and began to move out at a rapidly increasing pace to the no thward. The Sydney's> officers had been practically sure from the first « hat they now knew to be a fact-that tiie , stranger was the cruiser which had alSv Snk 20 British merchantmen and Se two million pounds 'worth of damage. THE EMDEN A PRETTY SHIP. British onlookers say that the Emden looked a very pretty little ship as she came out. The German landing party ashore, who had no time to get back to their ship, could not refrain from gathering to watch her. The British residents of tho settlement gathered on the roof of the cable station, the largest building on the main island. And they , aDd the Germans watched as if from a gallery one of tho prettiest little naval actions that ha s been fought. As the Eniden had 4-inch guns_ and the Sydney a fewer number of C-inch, the Emden's game was naturally to close and use her guns at a snort range, at which they were most effective. This she tried to do again and again during the first part of the action, but the Sydney would never lot her manage it. The Sydney s engines wero in perfect condition; during part of the tight when speed was called j.or she probably atta'nod her tull tr.aJ speed. The Emden was never a match for her in this respect, even b. rove the event took place wnich placed her en tirelv at the Sydeny's mercy, as win oj explained presently. THE ACTION BEGINS. As the Emden came out the d;stancv rapidly decreased, and the range was rapidly reached at which the Sydney <xpected to begin the battle. She s.vuug round on to a parallel course, and the order had been actually given to in*. when the Eniden surprised tho onlookers by hnug the .first shot. rt went whistling overlie*.l, exactly wheie "io lint broaside ought to go, and it is ascribed as a piece of perfect shooting The Sydney's first broadside, or saho, ihth 3 followed immediately alterwards also went well over the Emden. Ito Sydney's second salvo, whichwasa ti ifle irregular, fell short. Hertlnrdcleaiylnt the enemy, although the bursty of her shells in the eneiiiyVh>-art could not vet be seen. . The Emden's shooting at the beginning of the fight was extraordinarily rapfd. Her little four-inch guns, were being fired at an extreme range, so „ti,f indeed that it can only De exSSfed b Tthe fact that-the Germans amounting to as much as 30 degiee The result was that her shots, by the Jme they reached the Sydney, were falling at a very heavy angle, a fact Such is made quite clear b ythe dirccon of the shJt holes in the Sydney here" they can betraeed in almost ev ; ,y ca.se from ai. ?ntry high up on the port 6U Ae to the exit much lower on the starboard side The Sydney's shots on tho Sther hand, pierced tho Emden horizontal'y' ENCELENT GUNNERY The Emden's fire was so fast that she mS actually have had at times nc, lea than three salvos in the a at once, <><*,-h ni, ts way towards the Sydney. The iSr around the Sydney wa s his.i--cdl as with a flail, the spray being t .own all over her,<Cid for the first ten minutes or so the hits w< ;e fnirlv frequent. It was about the Emden s outh salvo (which means « her «jj \ discharge of five guns at on) which d,uthe first damage to tho Sydney-.A •Si entered a certain station winch contained several men and an officer . - almost brushed the arm of one ot men scored a deep grove along the So of one wall, and passed through to glance harmlessly off the deck below. This hsell hit nobody, but it* 'mpac «l ,nk the str'-turo to such an extent Mat all the men were, thrown down. Thev were just clambering up on their h3s and knees when a shell. iom ng f'om precisely the same direction, burst just beneath the floor Every man in the structure wa.s wounded. Bv this time the Sydney's shells w. undoubtedly hitting the Emden, but the burst of a shell inside the enemy's sbrp can only be told when something fa lhe first sign which those on board the Sydney saw of their own fire was "hen the Emden's foremost funnel was J* to fall overboard Shortly afterwards the Emden's foremast lurched over the side of the ship. Part of it remained there, striking out, horwontallv like a boom; tho rest went into the'sea. The Germans set their mam fire control position on a platform high B p 0 n this mast, and tho men in it were all thrown into the sea. THE BROADSIDE TH.IT SETTLED IT.

It wa« just after tips, about a quarter of an hour after the first shot was fired that a salvo from the Sydney entered the stern of the Emden, and burst

just before her.aj,t*r-der.k. The effect of thi s shbt Was aastdnfthmg. Th 0 fleck itself was lifted and, torn from' its beams, and left with a surface likje that of the sea wave. The atter-gUn upon it was instantly put out of actum. Seventeen—probably the greater part of on e gun crew—were blown alive overboard into the sea, where they swam about, with no wreckage to help them, and most of them wounded, until the Svdney happened to come across several of them at various periods from seven to eight hours later, and picked them out of the water alive, The same salvo set the Emden furiously on fire aft—a fire which could not be and was not put out. And. most serious of all. the same shot destroyed her steering gear. Those on the Sydney saw the effect ol this shell first *hen th *y n f l ?r v smoke l>egan to pour out of the Em. den's after-deck and stern Ports-as a mater of fact the fittings of the officers cabins and all that part of the sh.p wer w on fire It was noticed that from this t-mc the Emden's speed was very much decreased, but it was.not known upon the Svdney until after fch e hght that anything had happed to the enemy s steering gear. As a matter ol fact the Emden was stearmg»by means of her screw, and it was this which accounted for her loss of speeu. . This part of the aotion-tho first o mmutec of it-waa tbe only one which most of the spectators of Locos saw. It was in the first 15 minutes that all the casualties on the Bntash s'de occurredwhilst the battle was more or less even But the moment the German landing party watching from the island saw Uk> Emden's funnels fall, hey homed the inhabitants off from the roof ot tbe station, and kept them shut up ma room in which they could.not see the progress of the fight. . The behaviour of the landing party is said to have been perfectly courteous; but from this moment their time was occupied in seizin every useful article that they could find on the island, and .loading it into a schooner which was lying in the port They w'shed for no interference diuing, their operations. THE HITS IN THE SYDNEY.

Before her steering gear broke doun tho Emden had ported her helm and made a rush at the Sydney, which the. Svdney easily eluded, slipping tar ahead and always keepm practically at he. favourite range. The Emden now du.b. led back in an endeavour to close. out the Sydney simply, doubled ako .>nd bteamed parallel .0 her The Emden was still firing rapidly, but from th s time onwards the Sydney was pract.ca - ly unhurt by any of.the shots l«o telling hits had been made by the Emden Since the one before mentioned. The first of these was > ljddit € or luj;li-ex-pk'sivo shell, which passed near the urinels and exploded not tar from he Sydney's second starboard gun-that is a " gun on the unengaged side 01 tho ship. The high explosive sot fire to some paint and also some cordite which was ready for lading. Some of tho gtms' orew picked up this cordite and dumped it overboard and had just finished doing so when a second she I c ■ dently shrapnel, exploded just behind them. Almost «very portion of the gun itself was found to be absolutely ui.m'"of the gun's crew, however only two 'men escaped, two being killed and tho rest wounded. Thj second hit was from a shell which passed over the should" of the gunnery lieutenant and struck a voungster who was sitting at the range-finder behind him. killing him instantly. A fourth shot tore a great hole in the forecastle deck, and left its Sees all over the flat below, tearing the men's kitbags, defacing a general order posted there, and indenting decks and tables, but. doing no other dan.a;je. THE EMDEN'S PLUCK.

was the last damage that the Emden did. Her failure to hit alter tho iii'rt quarter of an hour must have been due in the first place to the menmental sufferings which her crew were undergoing in the awful hail that now began to rain uppn them. From this time a'.'so her guns began one :y one to disappear. Smoke was pouring from every part of her. except her forecastle and lnnillv. as she turned and doubled again, she was entirely h dden from the Sydney by a cloud of smr.ke. and stopped firing altogether. The Sydney a men thought that she had either sunk or surrendered, and a cheer went up. But presently the Emden came round oui; of her smoke, and began hring a"ain. The action continued for nearly 0 as long again after this incident. Gun after gun on the Emden ceased lire. Again and again dreadful wreckage wuu seen floating in the sea. An explosion had made havoc of the deck just alt ot the bridge. The second funnel foil over tho port side, and hung as it dragged from the ship's gunnage, with the inner casing lolling out of its mouth into the water. The last and only remaining funnel subsided, and lay across the .second one, the smoke of all three streaming along the deck. From tho bridge aft she seemed to be on continuous fire. At last only a little gun was left—a gun forward on the port side, which spat occasionally. THE MERCHANTMAN.

At a certain stage there had appeared on the sea a merchantman. Tlr.s ship looked for a while us if she were anxious to join in the fight, and suspecting that she might lie a merchant cruise!, the Svdney kept some of her guns.trained on her, but did not fire them. Unship turned out to be a collier, whtcli had been summoned by the Emden to meet her here. She seemed to have come up with the idea of joining m the action, and it is tsaid that at one time she intended to ram the Sydney. The idta was a hopeless one, as the Sydney's engines were in a condition which enabled her to get almost any speed she wanted as soon as it was asked for. while the (v.ilier could manage only about 10 When the result of tbtf-Wition"became obvious the collier made off.

' EMDEN GOES ASHORE

With even/ portion of lier on fire except the forecastle, with heir fiUrn actually growing red hot. and the smoke from the stokehold escaping from three holes in th« deck where once the funnels had h«en. the Emden was turned towards-the North Keeling Island to save her from sinking. The German colours—the white ensign with a black cross—was still flying from the mainmast; those on the foremast had, ot course, been shot away. Almost to the end the one gun still barked at intervals. Then the ship ran high on to the coral. Her nose was lifted almost clear out of the sea. A short stretch ot seething snrf separated her from the shore. Tjie Sydncv gave her two more broadside* as he passed her stem, and then stood off at once to hunt down the merchant ship. <Tt was just 11.20 a.m. It took only 50 minutes to overhaul the collier. A gun was fired across her bows and she stopped. She turned out to be thefeteamer Bure.sk; a collier captured from the British and manned cliiofly bjl Chinese. A German prize crew of H was found in her. A party from the Sydney which hoarded her found taht the collier was already «»nk--1 ing. The valves in the ship'" hpv/~>

had been opened and destroyed so that there was no possibility- of checking the entrance of the water. This was a great pity, as with the extra ship a great deal more comfort could have been given to the Emden's wounded. As it was the transference of the collier's crew occupied a great deal of time, and it was not till nearly 1 o'clock that the Sydney was able to leave her, after firing »*.<•- eral shots into (the empty ship to mako sure of its fate. THE LONG DAYS END.

The Sydney now returned to the Emden. Although she was high and dry, her colours were still up. For 20 minutos the Sydney steamed up and down past her stern, signalling to her to surrender ; but the Emden neither hoisted a white Hag nor pulled down her ensign. Accordingly two more broadsides were fired into her. Then at last a white flag appeared, and the German ensign was lowered.

It was now getting towards evening, and as tho tropical night falls veiy quickly, and the Sydney had not yet been able to visit the wireless station, which is on Direction Island, lo miles to tlie south, she at once returned there. A boat was sent off to the Emden. manned by the German crew who had been found in the collier, with a message that the Sydney would come back and assist them the next morning. As a matter of fact, it was even then just too late for tho Sydney to prevent the escape of tho lauding party from tlie settlement. Between North Keeling and Cocos a man was found swimming in the water. It was necessary to rescue him, and the result was that by tho time the cruiser had reached the roadstead night had fallen, and it would have been dangerous to land. NOT TO BE DESCRIBED.

At last the Sydney was able to return to the Emden. She carried with her the doctor from Cocos Island and other helpers. The condition of the Emden's people was pitiable. The greater part of the ship was nothing more than a mass of tangkd steel. It was difficult even to get about her. Her survivors were all in the forecastle—one fire had started there, and had burnt itself out or been extinguished. There was not a drop of fresh water in tho ship, and it is doubtful if any stores at all remained, except perhaps a few biscuits. The suivivors had probably nothing to eat 01 to drink since the action started the day before. Heavy seas washed past tho ship and made it almost impossible to attempt to reach the land. In spiteof them, mostly badly wounded hart struggled to the* shore.' It is almost certain that some must have been drowned in doing this, although the exact facts of this part of the story will probalby never be known, simply because the" survivors were not in a condition to tell or remember them. The most experienced of her two doctors scorns to have had one of his legs broken, not in tile action, hut in reaching the land ; and it is said that he drank s alt water and died on the evening tf the day of the fight. There was no fresh water on the island. It had been uninhabited for ten years—and most of the men there wei'o badly wounded. For the whole of the day the Sydney workul at bringing off the wounded. Dark came on before it could be finished.

WOUNDED TAKEN TO BRITISH

PORT. A BritMi warship is already pretty congested when she carries hei iuT crew, and the condition of the Sydney with all tho survivors oi board of bet passes description. Iho Gorman bounded had been uncared for for days—all tho ship's medical comforts had either been destroyed during the action ot else it was impossible to reach them through the fires. The only large span that could be rigged as a hospital in the Sydney was the waist of the ship, and in th\ th,. Germans were laid out side by side, and tended tt'th tho utmost care as was possible under the conditions.

Tlie inhabitants in the nearest port naturally wisbid to give a hearty repetition to tlie eruisr which had cleared the Indian Ocean of its worst scourge. But liv the wish of everybody on board, the Sydney forewent that demonstration. "No 'one had any wish that tho si<ms of cheering should reach those. that were lying in the Sydney's waist. Only one .ship in harbour, which apparently had not received the message broke this rule—the Sydney came "P tho roadstead in almost absolute silence.

Th? Kmden's casualties are not exactly known; thev are stated to be 12 officers and 119 men killed, and three officers and 53 men wcr 0 unwounded. The Sydney managed to transfer most of those not seriously wounded to another British warship at sea. The Sydney lost three killed and 12 others wounded. Almost all the wounded on both sides have been doing well.