SMS Emden bombing of Madras - 107 years ago (1914)

On 22 September 2021 107th year had been completed since the bombing of Madras by the German warship Emden. On that day in the memorial plaque in the High court building (where the shells from the ship fell), Chennai (Madras) people placed flowers and remembered that day. When Madras became a German target on the night of 22 September 1914 the word Emden had become a part of Tamil vocabulary meaning ''scheming,'' ''cunning'', ''talented'', etc. The unexpected attack by the German cruiser SMS Emden (often referred to as the ''Swan of the East'') took place when Madras was in the middle of festival time; Mahalaya Ammavasai (third day after New Moon) had just gone by and people were as usual busy with their routine work. As it was a night time lots of them were getting ready to hit the bed. Though the WWI was on and the British Govt. asked the people of Madras city to turn the light off and observe black-out at night, a custom during war time when the place was prone to air-raids. The lights were on in the coastal area and the lighthouse on the High Court building was busy flashing the powerful beam to guide the ships in the Bay of Bengal and the fishing folks.

Emden attack on Madras 22-09-1914. .past-india.com

German Cruiser SMS EMDEN. nationalinterest.org

The most-feared German warship of that time approached quietly the coastal area near the harbor just like a tiger stalking its prey. It was almost pitch dark on 22 Sept. Around 9.30 pm, armed with 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns roughly 2 miles away from the coast line German cruiser appeared from no where with the star board facing the shore, Using its powerful searchlights the captain of the ship fixed the targets in a whiff. Emden (named for the town) started firing shells. Result: The shells hit three oil storage tanks (one was empty) of the British-owned Burmah Oil Company and a merchant ship. There was 30 minutes continuous bombing till 10.00 pm. No retaliation from the British India navy. This short mission having been over, Emden, in a flash, turned back and disappeared into the sea under the cover of darkness. No trace of it and calm and silence descended on the place in the sea where Emden stood.

German SMS EMDEN. irtualdockyard.co.uk

Above image: The SMS that preceded the light cruiser’s name was the German acronym for “His Majesty’s Ship.” Perhaps a challenge to the British royals and their British army! Built in 1908 in Danzig on the Baltic Sea SMS EMDEN weighs n at 3,593 tons, 387 feet long with a beam of 43 feet. The cruiser was armed with 10 10.5cm cannons along with nine 5-pounders, four machine guns, and two torpedo tubes. steam engines provided 13,500 HP coal-powered engines could give a top speed of 24 knots. In the early part of the 20th century coal powered ships were preferred by navy officers because they could provide the needed speed in the sea. Emden had an auxiliary vessel to carry coal for the engines. 790 tons of coal she could carry would gave her a range of 1,850 miles at 20 knots and roughly twice at 12 knots. A part of the German East Asiatic Squadron, it was Maximillian von Spee. During the WWI Von Muller and his assistant sailed Emden from Pagan Island to the Bay of Bengal to terrorize the British sips. You will notice three smokestacks on Emden. Adding fourth one was a survival r tactic and Muller had his crew added a 4th one to make it physically look like a brutish ship. 'Camouflaging her appearance was not only a survival tactic for a commerce raider but also would help lull target vessels into a false sense of security when she approached'.. Of all Germany’s raiders, none had a career as bold as the Emden...........................

In the next few weeks there were newspaper reports and discussions in the social clubs and elsewhere about Madras bombing by the German warship. The subject was mainly centered around the notorious and marauding German cruiser Emden often referred to as the most powerful German war ship ( commissioned in 190) armed with 22 guns and weighing 3600 tons with coal-fired engines to run the steam turbines. It was a careful and meticulously planed attack on the shore of Madras with low casualty. The attack never caused any suspicion among the British Navy. In this case a few deaths were purely accidental. Fortunately, the fire from the petrol storage tank did not spread as the wind blew in the direction toward the sea.

Shell from Emden landed here. Plaque near Madras High court.
tamilbrahmins.com

In the aftermath of this bomb attack, the people of Madras panicked and could not swallow the attack on a quiet city. For the British it was a great humiliation; the only city in the empire that took the beating from the Germans. Till then the Bay of Bengal was called the British Lake dominated by a large fleet of British ships. Indians started losing trust in the British military's superiority and soon began getting out of the city en masse suspecting further attack by Germans. India had nothing to do with the war going on among the European countries; unfortunately it was dragged into the war and large portion of war expenses was met with Indian revenue!

Had SS Emden decided to get the hell out Madras attack, she could have been carried out easily. The German attack was intended to humiliate the English and to prove their ship's fire power. Just a little is known about the Commander of the ship Von Muller who was nick-named a chivalrous gentleman. Being brave and humane, his raids never caused casualty. In the next few weeks in the Bay of Bengal and elsewhere his ship had sent countless British and other European ships to the bottom after taking the crew as

prisoners who were never ill-treated by Muller and his men. He did this feat ingeniously by passing off as a British ship by adding a 4th chimney, a fake one, on the ship. In those days British ships possessed 4 chimneys (smokestacks). Von Muller and his seamen hoodwinked the British ships this way for several weeks.

Karl von Muller, captain of the Emdenanberratimes.com

As a matter of fact prior to his mission to Madras on 22 September 1914 Emden was low on coal supply and had to secure more before she was rendered adrift. On the night of 9 September Von Muller spotted a Greek cargo ship near Ceylon on her way to Bombay with coal. After some serious deliberation, Muller convinced the ship captain and integrated the cargo ship with 6,500 tons of coal into his task force. Indeed, a smart job under a tough situation.

A gun from EMDEN. thehindu.com

Above image: On display in a corner of Hyde Park in Sydney, Australia is a gun from SMS Emden that terrorized the British fleet in the Bay of Bengal in 1913-1914. The German cruiser was destroyed by the Australian warship HMAS Sydney off Coco Islands on November 11, 1914, within two months of its sudden assault on Madras at night during the First World War (22 Sept. 1914).Out of a crew of 376, 133 were killed and the survivors including Captain Muller were taken prisoner. .........................

Unfortunately his slew of victories came to an end on 9 November 1914 when Emden was hit by an Australian war ship off the Coco Islands. Nine years later Von Muller died in New Brunswick, Germany on 23 March 1923 at the age of 49. In deed, he was a chivalrous gentleman in German navy uniform!! A brilliant and humane German navy man who served his native country well by not harming people on war missions.

If Chennai city 107 years ago had escaped from the fury of dreaded SS Emden, the credit goes to that chivalrous gentleman Von Muller who was soft on his war mission to India. His sole intention was to wake up the British navy from its hibernation and to prove the power of German war machines. We Indians are indebted to this German gentleman in navy uniform. Commander Von Muller's name is etched permanently in the history of Chennai, so is his war ship EMDEN