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N0KFQ > TODAY 09.11.11 21:08l 43 Lines 1939 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 13824_KB0WSA
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Subj: Today in History - Nov 9
Path: IZ3LSV<IK2XDE<DB0RES<DB0OVN<DB0GOS<ON0AR<GB7CIP<GB7LDI<N0KFQ<KB0WSA
Sent: 111109/1939Z 13824@KB0WSA.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.0.4
Nov 9, 1914:
Australian warship Sydney sinks German Emden
On this day in 1914, in the first ever wartime action by an
Australian warship, the cruiser Sydney sinks the German raider
Emden in the Indian Ocean during the first autumn of World War I.
When World War I broke out in the summer of 1914, the Emden was
part of Germany's East Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Maxmilian
von Spee. While the rest of the squadron set out for the coast of
South America, Spee allowed the ship's commander, Karl von
Muller, to detach the ship from the rest of the squadron in order
to effectively threaten British commerce where it was vulnerable,
in the Indian Ocean. Beginning on September 10, the Emden wreaked
havoc on Allied commercial interests in the Indian Ocean, raiding
the towns of Madras and Penang and capturing over 20 unarmed
merchant vessels. Muller's crew also sank two warships, a Russian
cruiser and a French destroyer.
On November 9, the Australian light cruiser Sydney surprised the
Emden as the latter ship was raiding a British wireless
communications station on the Cocos Islands. The attack killed
134 of the ship's crew members, while Muller and the other
survivors were taken prisoner by the British. British newspapers
at the time praised Muller for his chivalry towards the crews and
passengers of the captured vessels. "If all the Germans had
fought as well as the captain of the Emden," claimed The Times,
"the German people would not today be reviled by the world."
Despite the demise of the Emden on November 9, the exploits of
its crew continued, as Muller had put a landing party ashore at
nearby Direction Island. The group promptly seized a schooner and
sailed to Yemen, crossing the Red Sea and braving Arab attacks on
its way to Damascus and finally to Constantinople in May 1915.
73, K.O. n0kfq
Another old retired guy
E-mail: n0kfq@winlink.org
N0KFQ@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
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