Destruction of Wireless Mast done by landing party of EMDEN
Date9 November 1914
Object number00056245
NamePhotograph
MediumCardboard, black-and-white photograph, ink
DimensionsOverall: 125 × 151 mm
ClassificationsPhotographs
Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection Gift from Helen Sturgess, Dr and Mrs BH Fulcher
DescriptionPhotograph depicting the felled wireless telegraphy mast at Direction Island following the assault from Emden's landing party. The handrwritten notation on the reverse of the carboard matte reads: 'Destruction of Wireless Mast done by landing party of "Emden".'HistoryHMAS Sydney (I) was a Chatham Class Light Cruiser built by the London-Glasgow Shipbuilding Company, Scotland. It was laid down in February 1911 and launched on 29 August 1912 by Lady Henderson, wife of Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson. Joining the battlecruiser HMAS Australia (I) at Portsmouth, Sydney was commissioned on 26 June 1913. The two vessels then sailed for Australia in July 1913 via St. Helena, Capetown and Mauritius, eventually making landfall at Albany, Western Australia for coaling on 19 September 1913. To make their arrival all the more momentous, the two ships were ordered to avoid major ports, travelling straight to Jervis Bay where the remainder of the main Australian fleet, HMAS Melbourne (I), HMAS Encounter, and three newly built destroyers were at anchor. The fleet then sailed north on the short voyage to Sydney arriving in October 1913.
Sydney had been commissioned under the command of Captain John C. T. Glossop. The vessel's displacement was 5,400 tons, while its armament would ultimately consist of eight 6-inch guns, one 13-pounder gun, four 3-pounder guns and two torpedo tubes. Sydney was the sister ship to HMA Ships Melbourne (I) and Brisbane (I), having been completed second respectively. The 'Chatham Class' was a subclass to the 'Town Class' light cruisers of the Royal Navy.
SMS Emden was the second and final member of the Dresden-class of light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy. Named for the town of Emden, it was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig in 1906, launched two years later, and completed in July 1909. Emden was armed with ten 10.5-centimetre (4.1-inch) guns and two torpedo tubes.
Emden spent the majority of its career overseas in the German East Asia Squadron, based in Tsingtao, China. In 1913, Karl von Müller took command of the ship. At the outbreak of the First World War, Emden captured a Russian steamer and converted it into the commerce raider Cormoran. Emden rejoined the East Asia Squadron, then was detached for independent raiding in the Indian Ocean. The cruiser spent nearly two months operating in the region, and captured nearly two dozen ships. On 28 October 1914, Emden launched a surprise attack on Penang; in the resulting Battle of Penang, it sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug and the French destroyer Mousquet.
Following the outbreak of the First World War, Sydney was engaged in operations against Germany's Pacific colonies and destroyed a radio station in the Pelew Islands. Returning to Australian waters, it joined the escort of the first troop convoy from Australia to the Middle East, which left Albany, Western Australia on 1 November 1914.
Following the Battle of Penang, Müller set course for the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where he landed a contingent of sailors to destroy British wireless telegraphy facilities. On 9 November, Sydney was detailed to leave its troop convoy to investigate reports of an unknown vessel off the Cocos Islands. The vessel turned out to be Emden, and the two ships prepared for battle. Although Sydney was hit early on by Emden's long-range guns, resulting in four dead and twelve wounded, the more powerful Australian ship quickly inflicted serious damage and forced Müller to run his ship aground to avoid sinking in a celebrated naval engagement that became the Royal Australian Navy's first victory at sea. Out of a crew of 376, 133 were killed in the battle. Most of Emden's survivors were taken prisoner; the landing party, led by Hellmuth von Mücke, commandeered the schooner Ayesha and eventually returned to Germany. Emden's wreck was quickly destroyed by the elements, and its surviving hull broken up for scrap in the 1950s.
Following the battle with Emden, Sydney spent eighteen months uneventfully patrolling along the west coast of the Americas. On 9 September 1916, the cruiser sailed for the United Kingdom, and after a brief refit in Greenock, joined the 5th Battle Squadron at Scapa Flow. On 15 November, Sydney was reassigned to the 2nd Light Cruiser Squadron at Greenock. On 4 May 1917, while patrolling in the North Sea with the cruiser HMS Dublin and the destroyers Nepean, Pelican, Pylades and Obdurate, Sydney took part in a battle with Zeppelin L43. The airship dropped 10 to 12 bombs towards Sydney that failed to hit the ship (although the airship claimed to have hit one of the cruisers). This engagment constituted the first air attack on an Australian warship. L43 was was ultimately driven away by anti-aircraft fire.
Sydney was present at the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet on 21 November 1918, and was assigned to escort another Emden, the Königsberg-class cruiser named to honour Sydney's opponent at the Battle of Cocos. Sydney left England for home in April 1919. Initially, the cruiser only received one battle honour, "Emden 1914", for its wartime service; this was one of only three single-ship action honours awarded during the 20th century. Following an overhaul of the RAN honours system in 2010, Sydney was retroactively awarded two more battle honours: "Rabaul 1914" and "North Sea 1917–18".
Sydney was paid off into reserve on 13 April 1923. Following a refit, it was recommissioned on 29 September 1924 to serve as Flagship of the RAN. Four years later, it was paid off and arrived at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard in 1929, where it was broken up.
SignificanceThe photographs in this collection are of immense significance as they include a rare and unique selection that depict the results of the Emden landing party's assault on the wireless telegraphy station at Direction Island, as well as the disposition of Sydney's crew (e.g., sitting at a cafe on Cocos Island) following the engagement with Emden. They also feature an image that shows the two vessels exchanging shellfire (as well as a near-miss on Emden) which, while admittedly difficult to discern, is exceedingly rare among archival photographs of the battle and its outcome.9 November 1914
