Pirates of the Carolinas SMS Emden in less dire straits... In the last months of 1914, dozens of Allied warships combed the Indian Ocean for one tiny sliver of "Blut und Eisen" loose somewhere on the wide sea. Not a battleship or a battlecruiser, mind you. No. Somewhere at the centre of this hornet's nest of convoys and warships was a single German 4-inch gun light cruiser, the SMS Emden, skippered by Captain Karl von Muller. The Emden's gallant commander had cut a swathe through British self-esteem, with bold attacks on harbours and shipping and the ease with which he was able to hoodwink or elude his pursuers. But his luck ran out on November 9th 1914 when he put a landing party ashore to destroy the wireless station in the Cocos Islands. The station alerted nearby shipping, which brought the passing 6-inch gun light cruiser HMAS Sydney down upon the raider- and while its landing party was still ashore. In the battle, the Sydney used its superiour firepower to savage the Emden causing von Muller to beach his wrecked ship on a reef to avoid sinking. Sydney then broke off the fight temporarily to pursue the Emden's escaping collier. Overtaken, the collier's crew surrendered and scuttled their ship. Emden was still flying her colours when the Sydney returned that afternoon. When the flagged request to surrender went unanswered, Sydney's captain reluctantly pumped more shells into the wreck, prompting the Emden's surviving crew to finally pull down their ensign. The Sydney's commander, Captain John Glossop, then arranged for a letter to be sent across suggesting that the Emden's CO surrender. That's right. A letter. I'm not making this up. Sydney waited overnight before visiting the wireless station and finally took on the Emden's survivors following day. Meanwhile, the Emden's landing party, under First Lieutenant Helmut von Mucke, had been busy under cover of darkness. They'd commandeered a rotten, unseaworthy schooner and set off for Sumatra with no charts. And they made it to! Which is why I find all this so fascinating. Naturally, when Europeans do insane things like this, they are "heroes!" Yet today, when Middle-Eastern or Sri-Lankan refugees travel the other way, from Sumatra to the Cocos Islands in a rotten, unseaworthy boat, they are "...queue-jumping illegal immigrants." Figure that one out? SMS Emden model: Chris' WW1 ships Rendered in Vue 8 Espirit with Wabes sea splashes for wake Some Postwork touch up of the wake and funnel smoke in Painter 8