in early 1914 The contract for , ordered as (replacement) , was placed on 6 April 1906 at the (Imperial Dockyard) in
Danzig. Her keel was laid down on 1 November 1906. She was launched on 26 May 1908 and christened by the (Lord Mayor) of the city of
Emden, Dr.
Leo Fürbringer. After
fitting-out work was completed by 10 July 1909, she was commissioned into the fleet. The new cruiser began
sea trials that day but interrupted them from 11 August to 5 September to participate in the annual autumn maneuvers of the main fleet. During this period, also escorted the imperial yacht with
Kaiser Wilhelm II aboard. was decommissioned in September after completing trials. On 1 April 1910 was reactivated and assigned to the (East Asia Squadron), based at
Qingdao in Germany's
Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory in China. The concession had been seized in 1897 in retaliation for the murder of German nationals in the area. left
Kiel on 12 April 1910, bound for Asia by way of a goodwill tour of South America. A month later, on 12 May, she stopped in
Montevideo and met with the cruiser , which was assigned to the (East American) Station. and stayed in
Buenos Aires from 17 to 30 May to represent Germany at the celebrations of the hundredth anniversary of Argentinian independence. The two ships then rounded
Cape Horn; stopped in
Valparaíso, Chile, while continued on to Peru. The cruise across the Pacific was delayed because of a lack of good quality coal. eventually took on around of coal at the Chilean naval base at
Talcahuano and departed on 24 June. The cruise was used to evaluate the ship on long-distance voyages for use in future light cruiser designs. encountered unusually severe weather on the trip, which included a stop at
Easter Island. She anchored at
Papeete,
Tahiti to coal on 12 July, as the bunkers were nearly empty after crossing . The ship then proceeded to
Apia in
German Samoa, arriving on 22 July. There, she met the rest of the East Asia Squadron, commanded by (Rear Admiral)
Erich Gühler. The squadron remained in Samoa until October, when the ships returned to their base at Qingdao. was sent to the
Yangtze River from 27 October to 19 November, which included a visit to
Hankou. The ship visited
Nagasaki, Japan, before returning to Qingdao on 22 December for an annual refit. The repair work was not carried out; the
Sokehs Rebellion erupted on
Ponape in the
Carolines, which required s presence; she departed Qingdao on 28 December, and left Hong Kong to join her. , who served as the ship's commanding officer from 1913 The two cruisers reinforced German forces at Ponape, which included the old
unprotected cruiser . The ships bombarded rebel positions and sent a landing force, which included men from the ships along with colonial police troops, ashore in mid-January 1911. By the end of February the revolt had been suppressed, and on 26 February the unprotected cruiser arrived to take over the German presence in the Carolines. and the other ships held a funeral the following day for those killed in the operation, before departing on 1 March for Qingdao via Guam. After arriving on 19 March, she began an annual overhaul. In mid-1911, the ship went on a cruise to Japan, where she accidentally rammed a Japanese steamer during a
typhoon. The collision caused damage necessitating another trip to the drydock in Qingdao. She returned to the Yangtze to protect Europeans during the
Chinese Revolution that broke out on 10 October. In November, (Vice Admiral)
Maximilian von Spee replaced Gühler as the commander of the East Asia Squadron. At the end of the year, won the Kaiser's (Shooting Prize) for excellent gunnery in the East Asia Squadron. In early December, steamed to
Incheon to assist the grounded German steamer . In May 1913, (Lieutenant Commander)
Karl von Müller became the ship's commanding officer; he was soon promoted to (Commander). In mid-June, went on a cruise to the German colonies in the Central Pacific, and was stationed off
Nanjing, as fighting between Qing and revolutionary forces raged there. On 26 August, rebels attacked the ship, and s gunners immediately returned fire, silencing the attackers. moved to
Shanghai on 14 August.
World War I spent the first half of 1914 on the normal routine of cruises in Chinese and Japanese waters without incident. During the
July Crisis that followed the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, was the only German cruiser in Qingdao; Spee's two
armored cruisers, and , were cruising in the South Pacific and was en route to replace off the coast of Mexico. On 31 July, with war days away, Müller put to sea to begin commerce raiding once war had been formally declared. Two days later, on 2 August, Germany declared war on Russia, and the following day, captured the Russian steamer . The Russian vessel was sent back to Qingdao, and converted into the
auxiliary cruiser . On 5 August, Spee ordered Müller to join him at
Pagan Island in the
Mariana Islands; left Qingdao the following day along with the auxiliary cruiser and the
collier . The ships arrived in Pagan on 12 August. The next day, Spee learned that Japan would enter the war on the side of the
Triple Entente and had dispatched a fleet to track his squadron down. Spee decided to take the East Asia Squadron to South America, where it could attempt to break through to Germany, harassing British merchant traffic along the way. Müller suggested that one cruiser be detached for independent operations in the
Indian Ocean, since the squadron would be unable to attack British shipping while it was crossing the Pacific. Spee agreed, and allowed Müller to operate independently, since was the fastest cruiser in the squadron.
Independent raider On 14 August, and left the company of the East Asia Squadron, bound for the Indian Ocean. Since the cruiser was already operating in the western Indian Ocean around the
Gulf of Aden, Müller decided he should cruise in the shipping lanes between
Singapore,
Colombo and
Aden. steamed toward the Indian Ocean by way of the
Molucca and
Banda Seas. While seeking to coal off
Jampea Island, the Dutch
coastal defense ship stopped and asserted Dutch neutrality. Müller steamed into the
Lombok Strait. There, s radio-intercept officers picked up messages from the British armored cruiser . To maintain secrecy, s crew rigged up a dummy funnel to impersonate a British light cruiser, then steamed up the coast of
Sumatra toward the Indian Ocean. On 5 September, entered the
Bay of Bengal, achieving complete surprise, since the British assumed she was still with Spee's squadron. She operated on shipping routes there without success, until 10 September, when she moved to the Colombo–
Calcutta route. There, she captured the Greek collier , which was carrying equipment for the British. Müller took the ship into his service and agreed to pay the crew. captured five more ships; troop transports
Indus and
Lovat and two other ships were sunk, and the fifth, a steamer named
Kabinga, was used to carry the crews from the other vessels. On 13 September, Müller released
Kabinga and sank two more British
prizes, including . The next day, the Germans paid
Clan Mathesons
lascar crew to tranship coal from
Pontoporos to
Emden. Off the
Ganges estuary, stopped and searched the Norwegian steamship
Dovre. Finding no
contraband, they transferred British prisoners to her, and released her.
Dovre informed Müller that Entente warships were operating in the area, which persuaded him to return to the eastern coast of India. stopped and released an Italian freighter, whose crew relayed news of the incident to a British vessel, which in turn informed British naval authorities in the region. The result was an immediate cessation of shipping and the institution of a
blackout.
Vice Admiral Martyn Jerram ordered
Hampshire, , and the Japanese
protected cruiser to search for . The British armored cruiser and the Japanese armored cruiser were sent to patrol likely coaling stations. In late September, Müller decided to
bombard Madras. Müller believed the attack would demonstrate his freedom of maneuver and decrease British prestige with the local population. At around 20:00 on 22 September, entered the port, which was completely illuminated, despite the blackout order. closed to within from the piers before opening fire. She set fire to two
oil tanks and damaged three others, and damaged a merchant ship in the harbor. In the course of the bombardment, fired 130 rounds. The following day, the British again mandated that shipping stop in the Bay of Bengal; during the first month of s raiding career in the Indian Ocean, the value of exports there had fallen by 61.2 percent. From Madras, Müller had originally intended to rendezvous with his colliers off
Simalur Island in Indonesia, but instead decided to make a foray to the western side of Ceylon. On 25 September, sank the British merchantmen
Tywerse and
King Lund two days before capturing the collier
Buresk, which was carrying a cargo of high-grade coal. A German
prize crew went aboard
Buresk which was used to support s operations. Later that day, the German raider sank the British vessels
Ryberia and
Foyle. Low on fuel, proceeded to the
Maldives, arriving on 29 September and remaining for a day while coal stocks were replenished. The raider then cruised the routes between Aden and Australia and between Calcutta and
Mauritius for two days without success. steamed to
Diego Garcia for engine maintenance and to rest the crew. The British garrison at Diego Garcia had not yet learned of the state of war between Britain and Germany, and so treated to a warm reception. She remained there until 10 October, to remove
fouling. While searching for merchant ships west of Colombo, picked up
Hampshires wireless signals again; the ship had departed for the
Chagos Archipelago on 13 October. The British had captured on 12 October, depriving of a collier. On 15 October, captured the British steamer
Benmore off
Minikoi and sank her the next day. Over the next five days, she captured
Troiens,
Exfort,
Graycefale,
Sankt Eckbert, and
Chilkana. One was used as a collier, three were sunk, and the fifth was sent to port with the crews of the other vessels. On 20 October, Müller decided to move to a new area of operations.
Attack on Penang Müller planned a surprise attack on
Penang in
British Malaya. coaled in the
Nicobar Islands and departed for Penang on the night of 27 October, with the departure timed to arrive off the harbor at dawn. She approached the harbor entrance at 03:00 on 28 October, steaming at , with the fourth dummy funnel erected to disguise her identity. s lookouts quickly spotted a warship in the port with lights on; it turned out to be the Russian protected cruiser , a veteran of the
Battle of Tsushima. had put into Penang for boiler repairs; only one was in service, which meant that she could not get under way, nor were the ammunition hoists powered. Only five rounds of ready ammunition were permitted for each gun, with a sixth chambered. pulled alongside at a distance of ; Müller ordered a torpedo to be fired at the Russian cruiser, then gave the order for the 10.5 cm guns to open fire. quickly inflicted grievous damage on her adversary, then turned around to make another pass at . One of the Russian gun crews managed to get a weapon into action, but scored no hits. Müller ordered a second torpedo to be fired into the burning while his guns continued to batter her. The second torpedo caused a tremendous explosion that tore the ship apart. By the time the smoke cleared, had already slipped beneath the waves, the masts the only parts of the ship still above water. The destruction of killed 81 Russian sailors and wounded 129, of whom seven later died of their injuries. The elderly French
torpedo cruiser and the
destroyer opened wildly inaccurate fire on . Müller then decided to depart, owing to the risk of encountering superior warships. Upon leaving the harbor, he encountered a British freighter, , loaded with ammunition, that had already stopped to pick up a
harbor pilot. While preparing to take possession of the ship, had to recall her boats having spotted an approaching ship. This proved to be the French destroyer , which was unprepared and was quickly destroyed. stopped to pick up survivors and departed at around 08:00 as the other French ships were raising steam to get underway. One officer and thirty-five sailors were plucked from the water. Another French destroyer tried to follow, but lost sight of the German raider in a rainstorm. On 30 October, stopped the British steamer
Newburn and put the French sailors aboard after they signed statements promising not to return to the war. The attack on Penang was a significant shock to the Entente powers, and caused them to delay the large convoys from Australia, since they would need more powerful escorts.
Battle of Cocos ; the three-masted
Ayesha is visible in the background After releasing the British steamer, turned south to Simalur, and rendezvoused with the captured collier
Buresk. Müller then decided to attack the British coaling station in the
Cocos Islands; he intended to destroy the wireless station there and draw away British forces searching for him in the Indian Ocean. While en route to the Cocos, spent two days combing the
Sunda Strait for merchant shipping without success. She steamed to the Cocos, arriving off
Direction Island at 06:00 on the morning of 9 November. Since there were no British vessels in the area, Müller sent ashore a landing party led by (First Lieutenant)
Hellmuth von Mücke, s
executive officer. The party consisted of another two officers, six non-commissioned officers, and thirty-eight sailors armed with four machine guns and thirty rifles. was using
jamming, but the British wireless station was able to transmit the message "Unidentified ship off entrance." The message was received by the Australian light cruiser , which was away, escorting a convoy.
Sydney immediately headed for the Cocos Islands at top speed. picked up wireless messages from the then unidentified vessel approaching, but believed her to be away, giving them much more time than they actually had. At 09:00, lookouts aboard spotted smoke on the horizon, and thirty minutes later identified it as a warship approaching at high speed. Mücke's landing party was still ashore, and there was no time left to recover them.
Sydney closed to a distance of before turning to a parallel course with . The German cruiser opened fire first, and
straddled the Australian vessel with her third salvo. s gunners were firing rapidly, with a salvo every ten seconds; Müller hoped to overwhelm
Sydney with a barrage of shells before her heavier armament could take effect. Two shells hit
Sydney, one of which disabled the aft fire control station; the other failed to explode. It took slightly longer for
Sydney to find the range, and in the meantime, turned toward
Sydney in an attempt to close to torpedo range.
Sydneys more powerful guns soon found the range and inflicted serious damage. The wireless compartment was destroyed and the crew for one of the forward guns was killed early in the engagement. At 09:45, Müller turned his ship toward
Sydney in another attempt to reach a torpedo firing position. Five minutes later, a shell hit disabled the steering gear, and other fragments jammed the hand steering equipment. could only be steered with her propellers.
Sydneys gunfire also destroyed the
rangefinders and caused heavy casualties amongst s gun crews. Müller made a third attempt to close to torpedo range, but
Sydney quickly turned away. Shortly after 10:00, a shell from
Sydney detonated ready ammunition near the starboard No. 4 gun and started a serious fire. made a fourth and final attempt to launch a torpedo attack, but
Sydney was able to keep the range open. By 10:45, s guns had largely gone silent; the superstructure had been shredded and the two rear-most funnels had been shot away, along with the foremast. Müller realized that his ship was no longer able to fight, and beached on
North Keeling Island to save the lives of his crew. At 11:15, was run onto the reef, and the engines and boilers were flooded. Her
breech blocks and torpedo aiming gear were thrown overboard to render the weapons unusable, and all signal books and secret papers were burned.
Sydney turned to capture the collier
Buresk, whose crew scuttled her when the Australian cruiser approached.
Sydney then returned to the wrecked and inquired if she surrendered. The signal books had been destroyed by fire and so the Germans could not reply, and since her flag was still flying,
Sydney resumed fire. The Germans quickly raised
white flags and the Australians ceased fire. In the course of the action, scored sixteen hits on
Sydney, killing three of her crew and wounding another thirteen. A fourth crewman died later from his injuries.
Sydney had meanwhile fired some 670 rounds of ammunition, with around 100 hits claimed. had suffered much higher casualties: 133 officers and enlisted men died, out of a crew of 376. Most of the surviving crew, including Müller, were taken into captivity the next day. The wounded men were sent to Australia, while the uninjured were interned at a camp in
Malta; the men were returned to Germany in 1920. Mücke's landing party evaded capture. They had observed the battle, and realized that would be destroyed. Mücke therefore ordered the old 97
gross register ton schooner
Ayesha to be prepared for sailing. The Germans departed before
Sydney reached Direction Island, and sailed to
Padang in the Dutch East Indies. From there, they traveled to
Yemen, which was then part of the
Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany. They then traveled overland to
Constantinople, arriving in June 1915. There, they reported to
Wilhelm Souchon, the commander of the ex-German
battlecruiser . In the meantime, the British
sloop arrived at the Cocos Islands about a week after the battle to bury the sailors killed in the battle. ==Legacy==