Battle of Penang

The Battle of Penang occurred on 28 October 1914, during World War I. It was a naval action in the Strait of Malacca, in which the German cruiser sank two Allied warships. At the time, Penang was part of the Straits Settlements, a British Crown colony. Penang is an island off the west coast of Malaya, now the present day Malaysia. It is only a short distance from the mainland. The main town of Penang, George Town, is on a harbor. In the early months of the war, it was heavily used by Allied naval and merchant vessels. Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the German East Asia Squadron left its base in Tsingtao, China. The squadron headed east for Germany, but one ship, the light cruiser under Lt. Commander Karl von Müller was sent on a solitary raiding mission. At about 04:30 on 28 October, the Emden appeared off the George Town roads to attack the harbour defenses and any enemy vessels she might find there. Captain von Müller had disguised his ship by rigging a false smoke stack, which made the Emden resemble the British light cruiser . Once he had entered the harbor, however, he ran up the Imperial German naval ensign and revealed his identity to one and all. He then launched a torpedo at the Imperial Russian protected cruiser , following it up with a salvo of shells which riddled the ship. As the Zhemchug struggled to return fire, von Müller launched a second torpedo. It penetrated the Zhemchug'''s forward magazine, causing an explosion that sank the Russian warship. Casualties among the Zhemchugs crew of 250 amounted to 88 dead and 121 wounded. The old French cruiser and the French destroyer Fronde by now had opened fire on the Emden, but both were wildly inaccurate and von Müller simply ignored them as he turned to leave the harbour unharmed. While stopping to try to pick up a harbour pilot, he met the French destroyer , returning from a patrol. Caught by surprise, the French ship was quickly sunk by the German cruiser's guns. The Zhemchug had been tied up in a state of non-readiness while her captain, Cmdr.