Battle of Cocos The Battle of Cocos was a single - ship action that occurred on 9 November 1914 , after the Australian light cruiser responded to an attack on a communications station at Direction Island by German light cruiser . After the retreat of the German East Asia Squadron from south - east Asia , " Emden " remained behind to function as a commerce raider . During a two - month period , the German cruiser captured or sank 25 civilian vessels , shelled Madras , and destroyed two Allied warships at Penang . In early November , " Emden " s commanding officer , Karl von Müller , decided to attack the communications station at Direction Island , in the Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands , to hamper Allied communications and frustrate the search for his ship . Around the same time , the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand soldiers bound for Europe sailed from Albany , Western Australia , with " Sydney " , under the command of John Glossop , and three other warships escorting . During the night of 8 – 9 November , " Emden " reached the islands , and sent a shore party to disable the wireless and cable transmission station on Direction Island . The station was able to transmit a distress call before it was shut down ; this was received by the nearby convoy , and " Sydney " was ordered to investigate . " Sydney " spotted the island and " Emden " at 09 : 15 , with both ships preparing for combat . The longer range of " Emden " s guns meant she was able to fire first , but the German ship was unable to inflict disabling damage to the Australian cruiser before " Sydney " closed into range and opened up with her more powerful main guns . At 11 : 20 , the heavily damaged " Emden " beached herself on North Keeling Island . The Australian warship broke to pursue " Emden " s supporting collier , which scuttled herself , then returned to North Keeling Island at 16 : 00 . At this point , " Emden " s battle ensign was still flying : usually a sign that a ship intends to continue fighting . After no response to instructions to lower the ensign , Glossop ordered two salvoes shot into the beached cruiser , after which the Germans lowered the flag and raised a white sheet . " Sydney " had orders to ascertain the status of the transmission station , but returned the next day to provide medical assistance to the Germans . Of the " Emden " ' s crew , 134 were killed and 69 wounded , compared to only 4 killed and 16 wounded aboard " Sydney " . The German survivors were taken aboard the Australian cruiser , which caught up to the troop convoy in Colombo on 15 November , then transported the prisoners to Malta and handed them over to the British Army . An additional 50 German personnel from the shore party , unable to be recovered before " Sydney " arrived , commandeered a schooner and escaped from Direction Island , eventually arriving in Constantinople . Ships . HMAS " Sydney " . " Sydney " was a Town class light cruiser , of the " Chatham " subclass . She had a standard displacement of 5 , 400 tons . The cruiser was long overall and long between perpendiculars , with a beam of , and a draught of . A combined coal - and oil - fuelled boiler system allowed the ship to reach speeds over . The cruiser ' s main armament consisted of eight BL 6 - inch Mark XI guns in single mountings , firing shells . Secondary and anti - aircraft armament consisted of a single 3 - inch quick - firing high - angle anti - aircraft gun and ten 0 . 303 - inch machine guns ( eight Lewis gun s and two Maxim gun s ) . Two 21 - inch torpedo tubes were fitted , with a payload of seven torpedoes carried . Two hydraulic - release depth charge chutes were carried for anti - submarine warfare . A single 12 - pounder 8 - cwt field gun and four 3 - pounder Hotchkiss saluting gun s rounded out the armament . " Sydney " was laid down by the London and Glasgow Engineering and Iron Shipbuilding Company at Glasgow , Scotland , on 11 February 1911 . The ship was launched on 29 August 1912 by the wife of Admiral Sir Reginald Henderson . " Sydney " was completed on 26 June 1913 , and commissioned into the RAN that day . At the time of the battle , Captain John Glossop was in charge of the ship . SMS " Emden " . " Emden " was a " Dresden " class cruiser . The ship had a displacement of 3 , 364 tons at normal load , was long , had a beam of , and a draught of . The light cruiser had a maximum speed of . The ship was armed with ten SK L / 40 guns in single mountings , and carried two torpedo tubes . " Emden " was built in Danzig by Kaiserliche Werft Danzig . The ship was laid down on 6 April 1906 , launched on 26 May 1908 , and commissioned on 10 July 1909 . At the time of the battle , the cruiser was under the command of Karl von Müller . Background and leadup . Prior to World War I , " Emden " was operating as part of the German East Asia Squadron . Shortly after the war began , the threat of the Australian battlecruiser , plus the likelihood that Japan would join the Allies , prompted the German squadron to head into the Pacific Ocean , as the first stage of a retreat to Germany . Unlike the rest of the force , " Emden " was ordered to head into the Indian Ocean and commence a raiding campaign , as she was the most modern vessel in the East Asia Squadron . Over the next two months , the German ship captured or sank 25 civilian vessels , shelled Madras , and destroyed the Russian protected cruiser " Zhemchug " and the French destroyer " Mousquet " at Penang . During these two months , none of " Emden " s personnel were killed . At some point during the deployment , a fake fourth funnel was erected to disguise " Emden " as a British cruiser , specifically . Military historian George Odgers described " Emden " s activities as " one of the most daring careers of maritime destruction in naval history " . Aware of the increasing efforts to find his ship , von Müller selected the wireless station at Direction Island as his next target , with the hope that , in addition to hampering communications between Australia and the United Kingdom , disabling it would frustrate efforts to coordinate the search for " Emden " ( which by this point included sixteen warships from five Allied nations ) , and direct them away from the Aden - India shipping route , which was where he intended " Emden " to operate next . In October 1914 , " Sydney " and sister ship were assigned to escort the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand soldiers heading for Egypt . Originally , the Japanese cruiser " Nisshin " was to be part of the convoy force , but she ran aground on 12 October , and " Sydney " was assigned instead . The two cruisers sailed to Albany , Western Australia , where they met the 36 - ship convoy and the other two escorts , British armoured cruiser and Japanese battlecruiser " Ibuki " . " Sydney " , " Melbourne " , " Minotaur " , and the 36 merchant ships departed from Albany on 1 November , heading for Colombo ; " Ibuki " had diverted to Fremantle to collect another two transports , and caught up two days later . On 8 November , " Minotaur " left the convoy with orders to support operations against German South - West Africa , as the destruction of the South Atlantic Squadron at the Battle of Coronel left both the expedition and the Union of South Africa exposed to naval attack . After the cruiser ' s departure , " Melbourne " was assigned as lead ship of the convoy . Battle . Wireless station capture . During the night of 8 November , " Emden " sailed to Direction Island . At 05 : 30 on 9 November , lookouts at the Direction Island cable and wireless station spotted " Emden " sitting offshore . The station ' s director observed that the extra funnel was false , and when a steam pinnace was deployed to tow two boats ( carrying a 50 - strong landing party led by " Emden " s first officer , Hellmuth von Mücke ) towards shore , he ordered the station to begin transmitting distress calls . Both wireless and cable transmissions were made : " Emden " was able to jam the wireless signal shortly after it began , while the cable distress call continued until an armed party burst into the transmission room . After taking control of the station and its 34 staff , German personnel smashed the transmitting equipment and severed two of the station ' s three undersea cables , plus a dummy cable . They also felled the main wireless mast ; although taking care at the request of the staff to avoid damaging the station ' s tennis court , the mast landed on a cache of Scotch whisky . The station was placed under German martial law . The distress signal had been received by " Melbourne " around 06 : 30 , and although the cruiser initially turned to investigate , her commanding officer remembered his responsibility to the convoy , and instead ordered " Sydney " to detach . " Emden " heard " Melbourne " s wireless signal , and began to prepare for combat . A smoke signal was sent up by the ship to recall the landing party . Combat . At 09 : 15 , " Sydney " spotted Direction Island and the attacking ship ; although at the initial glance , those aboard the Australian cruiser could not determine if she was " Emden " or , which was also believed to be at large . Confident of being faster than either ship , " Sydney " slowed and began preparing for combat . " Emden " sighted " Sydney " around the same time , but von Müller assumed that the Australian convoy was further south , and that the approaching warship was or another vessel of similar vintage . The appearance of an Allied cruiser forced " Emden " to make for open waters , abandoning the attack party despite their best efforts to catch up . " Emden " was the first to fire at 09 : 40 ; the 30 - degree elevation of her main guns allowed her to out - range " Sydney " . The Germans ' third salvo struck " Sydney " from a range of , with one shell exploding in the Australian ship ' s gunnery control room . Von Müller recognised that his success in the battle required " Emden " to do as much damage as possible before the other ship retaliated , but despite the heavy rate of fire from the Germans over the next ten minutes ( at points reaching a salvo every six seconds ) , the high angle of the guns and the narrow profile presented as " Sydney " closed meant that only fifteen shells hit the Australian warship ; only five of these exploded . Damage was sustained to the Australian cruiser ' s forward range - finder and a mess deck inside the forecastle , while other shells ignited cordite charges stored ready next to one of the guns . Four sailors were killed , and another sixteen wounded ; the only casualties aboard " Sydney " during the entire engagement . As " Sydney " closed to , she commenced firing . This was hampered with the loss of the gunnery control room , with each mounting being targeted and fired locally . The first two salvoes missed , but two shells from the third struck . Having found the range , the RAN cruiser began firing for effect . While firing , " Sydney " closed to and launched torpedoes , which missed . Heavy and accurate fire damaged or destroyed " Emden " s wireless equipment , steering gear , both rangefinders , and voicepipe s to the turrets . The forward funnel collapsed overboard , then the foremast fell and crushed the fore - bridge . A shell from " Sydney " landed in the aft ammunition room of " Emden " , and the Germans had to flood it or risk a massive explosion . By this point , smoke from battle damage had begun to obstruct the ships ' views of each other . The damage to " Emden " had severely compromised her ability to fire effectively , and Glossop brought " Sydney " to about . At this range , a torpedo was fired at the German cruiser , then the Australian ship sped up and turned to starboard so one of the guns that had yet to fire could engage . " Emden " matched " Sydney " s turn , but by this point , the second funnel had been blasted off , and there was a fire in the engine room . In addition , about half of the cruiser ' s personnel had been killed or wounded , and the abandoning of the attack party on Direction Island meant there were no reserves to replace them . By 11 : 00 , only one of " Emden " s guns was still firing . As the third funnel went overboard , " Emden " found herself closer to North Keeling Island , and von Müller ordered the ship to beach herself on North Keeling Island to hopefully prevent further loss of life . " Emden " ran aground at around 11 : 20 , at which point , " Sydney " ceased fire . After " Emden " s beaching . " Sydney " then turned to pursue and capture " Emden " s supporting collier , " Buresk " . The cruiser caught up shortly after 12 : 00 and fired a warning shot , but on closing with " Buresk " , " Sydney " found the collier had already commenced scuttling . " Sydney " recovered the boarding party and the crew from " Buresk " , fired four shells to hasten the collier ' s sinking , then once she had submerged , turned back towards North Keeling Island . The Australian cruiser reached " Emden " around 16 : 00 . The Germans ' battle ensign was still flying , generally a sign that a ship intends to continue fighting . " Sydney " signalled " Do you surrender ? " in international code by both lights and flag - hoist . The signal was not understood , and " Emden " responded with " What signal ? No signal books " . The instruction to surrender was repeated by " Sydney " in plain morse code , then after there was no reply , the message " Have you received my signal ? " was sent . With no response forthcoming , and operating under the assumption that " Emden " could still potentially fire , launch torpedoes , or use small arms against any boarding parties , Glossop ordered " Sydney " to fire two salvoes into the wrecked ship . This attack killed 20 German personnel . The ensign was pulled down , and a white sheet was raised over the quarter - deck as a flag of surrender . Glossop had orders to ascertain the status of the transmission station , and left with " Sydney " to do so , after sending a boat with " Buresk " s crew to " Emden " with a message that they would return the next day . In addition to checking on Direction Island , there was also the potential that " Emden " and " Königsberg " had been operating together and that the second ship would approach to recover the attack party from the island , or go after the troop convoy ; consequently , " Sydney " could not render assistance to " Emden " s survivors until such threats had passed . It was too late to make a landing on Direction Island , so the cruiser spent the night patrolling the islands , and approached the wireless station the next morning . On arrival , the Australians learned that the Germans had escaped the previous evening in a commandeered schooner . " Sydney " embarked the island ' s doctor and two assistants , then headed for North Keeling Island . Aftermath . After " Sydney " contacted the convoy to report her success against " Emden " , the soldiers aboard the troopships were granted a half - day holiday from duties and training to celebrate . Von Muller surrendered to Glossop on the quarterdeck . Although accepting the surrender , Glossop allowed von Muller to keep his sword . During the battle , 130 personnel aboard " Emden " were killed , and 69 were wounded . Four of the latter died from wounds . Transferring the German survivors aboard " Sydney " took about five hours , with the difficulty of transferring so many wounded , rough seas , and overcrowding aboard the Australian cruiser . The two Australian medical officers aboard " Sydney " and the medical staff from Direction Island worked from 18 : 00 on 10 November to 04 : 30 the next morning to clear the most pressing needs for medical attention , with " Emden " survivors prioritised . Most of 11 November was spent treating less pressing cases ; the Direction Island staff left the ship around midday , and " Emden " s ship ' s surgeon , who had previously been unable to assist because of the shock and stress of caring for so many wounded from the battle ' s end until " Sydney " returned , had recovered enough by this point to assist as an anaesthetist . On 12 November , the auxiliary cruiser arrived , and all except the most seriously wounded prisoners were transferred over . " Sydney " caught up to the convoy at Colombo on 15 November . There were no celebrations of " Sydney " s success as the cruiser entered harbour : Glossop had requested that the sailors and soldiers aboard the warships and transports refrain from cheering , out of respect for the German wounded being carried aboard . The survivors from " Emden " were later transported to Malta , and placed in the custody of the British Army . Strategic situation . After " Emden " s defeat , the only German warship in the Indian Ocean basin was ; the cruiser had been blockaded in the Rufiji River in October , and remained there until her destruction in July 1915 . Australia was no longer under direct threat from the Central Powers , and many of the RAN ships which had been designated for the nation ' s defence could be safely deployed to other theatres . Over the next two years , troop convoys from Australia and New Zealand to the Middle East could sail without naval escort , further freeing Allied resources . The state of affairs persisted until the raider began operations in the region in 1917 . " Sydney " . After competing escort duties , the Australian ship was deployed to the North America and West Indies Station for eighteen months , then spent the rest of the war attached to the British Grand Fleet . " Sydney " remained in service until 1928 , and was broken up for scrap in 1929 . For the battle , " Sydney " was awarded the battle honour " " Emden 1914 " " . This was the first honour for a single ship action awarded to a RAN vessel , and one of only three awarded to any British Commonwealth ship during the 20th century . Glossop was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath . " Emden " . Von Muller was awarded the Iron Cross , First Class . The Kaiser announced the construction of a new " Emden " , which would bear an Iron Cross on her bow . A " Königsberg " class cruiser laid down in 1914 was named on completion in 1916 , and built with an Iron Cross mounted on her stem - head . Shortly after the battle , the auxiliary cruiser " Empress of Japan " visited the wreck to recover the signal logs . In 1915 , a Japanese company proposed that the ship be repaired and refloated , but an inspection by concluded that surf damage to " Emden " made such an operation unfeasible . By 1919 , there were reports that the wreck had disappeared ; " Emden " had broken up from the battle damage , and was pulled out by water currents before sinking in shallow waters . Landing party . After being abandoned , the German shore party commandeered the 97 - ton schooner " Ayesha " and roughly half Direction Island ' s food supply . They left Direction Island on the evening of 9 November . The schooner initially sailed to Padang , where they were escorted into port on 27 December by the Dutch destroyer " Lynx " and only allowed to remain under strict terms , so the Netherlands could maintain their stance of neutrality . With the threat that " Ayesha " would be seized by Dutch authorities , von Mücke took the schooner out during the night of 28 December , and headed for a rendezvous point he had announced to the German merchant vessels sheltering at Padang . On 14 December , the freighter " Choising " arrived at the rendezvous , and the Germans were welcomed aboard . " Choising " delivered them to Hodeida on 8 January 1915 . Unable to travel overland , the Germans acquired several dhow s and sailed up the Red Sea to Jiddah , then crossed overland to Mecca . From here , von Mücke and his sailors used the Hejaz Railway to travel to Constantinople , reported to the German admiral stationed there , then continued on to Germany itself . In 2010 , German director Berengar Pfahl began work on " Die Manner der Emden " ( " The Emden Men " ) , a film based on the story of the 50 German sailors left behind on Direction Island and their voyage home . Much of the filming occurred in Sri Lanka , with the luxury yacht " Raja Laut " used to represent the schooner " Ayesha " . " Die Manner der Emden " was originally to be released in February 2012 , but was delayed until June 2012 .