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 SMS Emden sank two Allied warships.At the time, Penang was part of the Straits Settlement, a British Crown Colony. The main town of Penang, George Town, is on a harbour. 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 SMS Emden, under Lt. Commander Karl von Müller, was sent on a solitary raiding mission. Early on the morning of 28 October 1914 at about 4.30am, the Emden appeared off the George Town roads and attacked the harbour and vessels lying therein. Captain von Müller had disguised his ship by rigging a false smoke stack, which made the Emden resemble the British cruiser HMS Yarmouth. Once he had entered the harbour, however, he ran up the German naval ensign and revealed what ship the newcomer actually was. Before any of the Allied naval vessels could respond, a torpedo was fired at the Russian protected cruiser Zhemchug, followed up with a salvo of shells which riddled the ship. A second torpedo, fired as the Emden turned to leave penetrated the forward magazine, causing an explosion that sank the Russian ship. Returning to the harbour from a patrol was the French destroyer Mousquet, under the command of a Lt. Théroinne, which then set off in pursuit of Emden, but was quickly sunk by the German ship.