Battle of Cocos

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Cocos
partof=World War I


caption="Emden" after the battle.
date=9 November 1914
place=Cocos Islands, north east Indian Ocean
result=Australian victory
combatant1=flagicon|Australia Australia
combatant2=flagicon|German Empire Germany
commander1=flagicon|Australia|naval John Glossop
commander2=flagicon|German Empire|naval Karl von Müller
strength1=light cruiser
HMAS "Sydney"
strength2=light cruiser
SMS "Emden"
casualties1=3 men killed
8 wounded
casualties2=131 men killed
65 wounded
"Emden" scuttledThe naval Battle of Cocos took place on 9 November 1914 during World War I off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, in the north east Indian Ocean.

The German light cruiser SMS "Emden" attacked the British cable station on Direction Island and was engaged several hours later by HMAS "Sydney", an Australian light cruiser. The battle was the first ship-against-ship engagement for the Royal Australian Navy.

Background

"Emden" was launched in 1908, and became the "Kaiserliche Marine"'s representative at the German colony of Tsingtao, in China, and was part of the German East Asia Squadron. After war broke out on 4 August 1914, the squadron was ordered to avoid the superior Allied naval forces in the Pacific, and it headed for Germany, by way of Cape Horn. The sole exception was the "Emden", under "Korvettenkapitän" (Lt Commander) Karl von Müller, which headed towards the Indian Ocean, with the objective of raiding Allied shipping. Müller frequently made use of a fake fourth smokestack, which — when the ship flew the Royal Navy ensign — made it resemble the British cruiser HMS "Yarmouth" and similar vessels.

Within three months, "Emden" had sunk 28 Allied merchant vessels and 2 warships. She had also shelled and damaged British oil tanks at Madras, in India. A collier named "Buresk", was captured with her cargo intact, and was re-crewed with German seamen to accompany the "Emden" as a supply vessel. Naval victims of the "Emden" were an obsolescent Russian heavy cruiser and a French destroyer off Malaya, at the Battle of Penang, on 28 October. By the end of October, no less than 60 Allied warships were hunting the "Emden".

Coincidentally, on 1 November, a convoy carrying the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) to Egypt, left Albany, Western Australia. The escort was four cruisers: the Australian "Sydney" and HMAS "Melbourne", the British HMS "Minotaur" and the Imperial Japanese Navy's "Ibuki".

The action

The cable and radio station at Direction Island was a critical component of Allied communication in and across the Indian Ocean. Müller decided to destroy the station's radio tower and equipment.

When "Emden" reached the island at 6am on 9 November, the Eastern Telegraph Company staff quickly realised they were under attack and sent a message saying "Strange ship in entrance" and "SOS, Emden here". A German shore party of 50 seamen with small arms, under "Kapitänleutnant" Hellmuth von Mücke was quickly landed. The civilian staff on the island offered no resistance, and Mücke even agreed to take care that the 54 metre (176 ft) tall radio tower did not fall into the island's tennis court when its base was blown up. "Emden" signalled the "Buresk" to join it.

The ANZAC convoy happened to be only 50 miles (80 km) away and it was decided to detach a vessel in response to the SOS signals. Despite intense lobbying from the commander of "Ibuki", the "Sydney" was despatched at 7am. The RAN ship was a state-of-the-art Town class light cruiser, commissioned in 1913 and commanded by Captain John Glossop, an RN officer.

When lookouts on "Emden" spotted "Sydney" approaching, Müller had no choice but to raise anchor and engage the Australian cruiser, leaving Mücke and his landing party on Direction Island.

"Sydney" was larger, faster and better armed — 6 inch (152mm) guns — than "Emden", which had 104mm (4.1 inch) guns. However, the German gunners fired first at 9.40am from 10km away and scored hits soon afterwards, knocking out "Sydney's" rangefinder and one gun. After that, Glossop used his speed and the superior range of his guns to stay out of reach of the German guns and avoided further damage and casualties. Meanwhile, his own gunners gradually found their marks, inflicting sustained and increasingly accurate fire on "Emden".

By 10.20am the Germans had lost their steering, electrics and radio. Nevertheless, the battle went on for almost another hour. After taking extremely heavy damage from almost 100 hits, and suffering dozens of casualties, Müller decided to beach "Emden" on North Keeling Island to avoid sinking at 11.15am. "Sydney" then pursued "Buresk", which was scuttled to avoid re-capture. Müller had neglected to strike his colours after beaching and when "Sydney" returned, Glossop signalled "Emden" to surrender. As no reply was received, he ordered his gunners to resume firing, after which a white flag was run up.

The survivors from "Emden" were captured and "Emden" was destroyed. "Emden"'s crew suffered 131 killed and 65 wounded, from a total complement of 360. "Sydney" had three killed and eight wounded. Glossop later said that he "felt like a murderer" for ordering the last salvoes at the helpless ship, but had no choice under the circumstances. Some 230 of the "Emden" survivors were transferred from the "Sydney" to the SS "Empress of Russia" for transport to Colombo. [Ships List: [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsE.html Description of "Empress of Russia"] ]

In the meantime, Mücke and his men had seized the 123-ton three-masted schooner "Ayesha" and some supplies and made for Padang on Sumatra, in the neutral territory of the Dutch East Indies. Twhere they rendezvoused with a German merchant vessel on 13 December. Mücke's party made their way to Turkey by way of the Red Sea, arriving on 5 May 1915. They then travelled overland, eventually reaching Germany.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.ezania.net/library/books/cocos/index_contents.htm "The Ayesha: Adventures of the Landing Squad of the Emden" (Book by Kapitaenleutnant Hellmuth von Muecke)]
* [http://cocossydney.blogspot.com "Cocos" (An eyewitness account of the "Battle of Cocos" from the diary of Able Seaman Richard Horne who was on the HMAS Sydney and injured during the battle. The illustrated account also includes the Pacific context.)]