The Destruction of the Emden 



By Rear-Admiral Bradley A. Fiske 



Rear-Admiral Fiske's graphic description of the battle betz^'een the Aus- 

 tralian cruiser "Sydney" and the German commerce destroyer "Emden," is all 

 the more interesting because it comes from an American naval officer ivho has 

 distinguished himself by the invention of devices ivhich have done much to im- 

 prove American gunnery. The frightful havoc wrought by shell fire on the 

 doomed German ship carries ivith it a lesson in preparedness, as Admiral Fiske 

 points out. — Editor. 



WHEN making her last raid, which 

 was against South Keehng, an 

 island of the Cocos group, a few 

 hundred miles southwest of Sumatra 

 and Borneo, and while she had three of- 

 ficers and forty enlisted men on shore, 

 the German commerce-destroyed E}n- 

 den was surprised by the Australian 

 cruiser Sydney that had been told by 

 wireless of her presence. The Sydney 

 was a vessel of five thousand two hun- 

 dred tons displacement, had a maximum 

 speed of twenty-six knots and carried 

 eight six-inch guns that fired projectiles 



weighing one hundred pounds. The 

 Emden had a displacement of three 

 thousand six hundred tons, mounted ten 

 four-inch guns that fired projectiles 

 weighing about thirty-two pounds. She 

 had a maximum speed at that time 

 of one or two knots less than the Syd- 

 ney. An action ensued, the results of 

 which are clearly indicated by the photo- 

 graphs here shown. The battle began 

 at a range of about two and a quarter 

 miles ; but the range was quickly in- 

 creased by the Sydney whose Captain 

 took advantage of her superior speed 



All that is left of the bridge from which the captain and officers were wont to direct 

 the activities of the fast German commerce-destroyer Emden 



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