In memoriam: An anchor marks the grave of the Zhemchug’s Russian soldiers at George Town’s Western Road Christian Cemetery. - File picg
OVER the decades since 1914, it has been said in books and online that a naval battle took place just off Penang in full view of landmarks such as Fort Cornwallis.
Did this really happen or is it an incident that has been exaggerated over the years?
Verdict:
TRUE
The incident - which has gone down in history as the Battle of Penang - took place in Oct 28, 1914, when the German ship SMS Emden attacked Allied vessels in a surprise one-day offensive off the coast of George Town.
During WWI, Penang was a principal British port; it served as an intermediary to ship cargo, merchandise and military personnel and equipment between East Asia and Britain. Due to the political and military alliances of the war, the harbour was also put to use by French and Russian forces allied with the British.
In the attack, the Emden's captain Lt Commander Karl von Müller thought that the French cruiser Dupleix was in Penang, and sinking her despite her superior firepower would achieve glory for Germany in a way that commerce-raiding could never do.
Explaining the attack in a 2014 interview by The Star, "The Battle Of Penang" author Dr John Robertson said that von Müller planned the covert strike to take place before daybreak.
He said that at this point, von Müller and his crew had already established a record for single-handedly sinking over 20 Allied merchant ships without being intercepted.
Cloaked in radio silence and rigged with a mock smoke stack in a successful imitation of British vessels, the Emden entered Penang waters undetected and promptly launched its attack against the docked Allied ships.
By the time the German national flag was raised and a torpedo was launched against the Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug, it was far too late for Allied ships to respond.
The Zhemchug, which had been sent East as a military escort for French and British ships, sank after taking numerous shots and a second torpedo from the Emden.
This attack led to the death of 89 sailors and 143 were wounded and the destruction of the Zhemchug was followed by the sinking of the French destroyer Mousquet.
That attack claimed 47 men, with 36 remaining crew taken as prisoners of war by the Emden.
Despite these successes, the Emden's run in the region came to a grinding halt when it was itself sunk by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney in the November 1914 Battle of Cocos.
Some 134 crewmen of the Emden fell in the battle and 69 were wounded. Von Müller and other survivors were made prisoners of war.
SOURCES:
1. https://www.thestar.com.my/
2. https://web.archive.org/web/
