Bombardment of Madras

For the earlier French bombardment, see Battle of Madras.

Bombardment of Madras
Part of the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I
Oil tanks on fire in the harbour following the bombardment of Madras by SMS Emden
Date 22 September 1914 Location Madras, Madras Presidency, India Result German victory
Belligerents
India	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Karl von Müller
Strength
Unknown	Light cruiser Emden
Casualties and losses
1 steamer sunk 5 killed 26 wounded	None

The bombardment of Madras was an engagement of the First World War, at Madras (now Chennai), British India. The bombardment was initiated by the German light cruiser Emden at the outset of the war in 1914. ^[1]

Emden Plaque Madras

With Captain Karl von Müller in command, on the night of 22 September 1914, SMS Emden quietly approached the city of Madras on the southeastern coast of the Indian peninsula. As he later wrote, "I had this shelling in view simply as a demonstration to arouse interest among the Indian population, to disturb English commerce, to diminish English prestige." After entering the Madras harbour area, Müller illuminated six large oil tanks belonging to the Burmah Oil Company with his searchlights, then fired at a range of 3,000 yards. After ten minutes of firing, Emden had hit five of the tanks and destroyed 346,000 gallons of fuel, and the cruiser then successfully retreated. ^[2]

Soon the word Emden entered the Tamil dictionary and was used to describe someone powerful, frightening and with a wicked intent. ^[3]

Footnotes

1. Datta, Rangan (23 September 2022). "108 years of Emden – the only World War I attack on India". The Telegraph. India. Retrieved 29 March 2025.
2. Keegan 2004, pp. 127–128.
3. Saini, Ajay (22 February 2020). "How German cruiser 'Emden' struck terror in the heart of the British Empire, and became a Tamil word". The Hindu. ISSN   0971-751X . Retrieved 15 July 2022.

References and external links

• Keegan, John (October 2004). Intelligence in War (1 ed.). New York: Vintage Books. ISBN   0-375-70046-3.
• The Last Corsair: The Story of The Emden by Dan van der Vat, 1984. ISBN   0-586-06265-3
• The Last Gentleman of War. The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden by R. K. Lochner, Naval Institute Press:. 1988. ISBN   0-87021-015-7
• The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew by Edwin Palmer Hoyt, Globe Pequot Press, 2001 ISBN   978-1-58574-382-7
• Hellmuth von Mücke, Helene Schimmelfennig White (1917). The Emden. Ritter.
• Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I by John M. Taylor
• New York Times: "German Cruiser Emden Destroyed", 11 November 1914 a PDF of NYT's report on Emden's sinking along with some praise for its captain.
• New York Times: "Captain of Emden Killed?", a PDF of a NYT article dated 13 April 1921
• "Junk-Emden". Time . 6 May 1929. Archived from the original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2008.
• Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today (in German)
• World War I Naval Combat
• Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I
• How German cruiser ‘Emden’ struck terror in the heart of the British Empire, and became a Tamil word. The Hindu. 23 February 2020.

Further reading

• Frame, Tom. (2004). No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy. Sydney: Allen & Unwin ISBN   978-1-74114-233-4 (paper)
• Hoehling, A. A. Lonely Command a Documentary Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., 1957.
• Hoyt, Edwin P. The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True World War I Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew. The Lyons Press, 2001. ISBN   1-58574-382-8.
• Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince of Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden. New York: G. Howard Watt, 1928.
• Lochner, R. K. Last Gentleman-Of-War: Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN   0-87021-015-7.
• McClement, Fred. Guns in paradise. Paper Jacks, 1979. ISBN   0-7701-0116-X.
• Mücke, Hellmuth von. The Emden-Ayesha Adventure: German Raiders in the South Seas and Beyond, 1914. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. ISBN   1-55750-873-9.
• Schmalenbach, Paul German Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979. ISBN   0-87021-824-7.
• Van der Vat, Dan. Gentlemen of War: The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984. ISBN   0-688-03115-3
• Walter, John The Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994. ISBN   1-55750-456-3.