Our first naval victory at seaOur first naval victory at sea 

The ‘Sydney-Emden' conflict, or ‘Battle of Cocos’, was a naval single-ship action that occurred between Australian Town-class light cruiser HMAS Sydney (I) and German Dresden-class light cruiser SMS Emden, on 9th November 1914.

2026 marks 125 years since the establishment of the Commonwealth Naval Forces that later became the Royal Australian Navy. In celebration of this milestone, we look back on the Australia’s first naval victory at sea.

By October 1914, the elusive SMS Emden had successfully sunk or captured twenty-five Allied steamers and two warships, under the leadership of Captain Karl von Müller- posing a significant threat to Allied supply lines and naval operations within the Pacific and Indian Oceans.  

In November, Emden travelled to the Cocos-Keeling Islands (located in the Indian Ocean midway between Australia and Sri Lanka, and southwest of Christmas Island), accompanied by a captured collier, SS Buresk. There, she was to destroy a British wireless and telegraph station on Direction Island (the largest of the Cocos-Keeling Islands) and cut the undersea cables that delivered international telegraphs between Australia and the British Empire. After intercepting radio messages, they did not believe that there were any enemy ships close enough to interfere.

Meanwhile, and unknown to the crew of Emden, an allied convoy was nearby, travelling to the war in Europe. It was made up of 38 transport vessels and was escorted by three warships: HMAS Sydney, HMAS Melbourne, and the Japanese battlecruiser HIJMS Ibuki. The convoy had sailed from Albany on 1st November and on the morning of 9th November 1914 was steaming some 90 kilometres (approximately 50 nautical miles) east of the Cocos Islands. It travelled undetected, in radio silence.

Despite an attempt to disguise Emden as a British cruiser through the addition of a false fourth funnel, Emden was spotted by the staff at the wireless station. They had also overheard signals between Emden and Buresk in an unknown code earlier that morning. The wireless station staff transmitted a signal, ‘Strange warship approaching’, followed by the same message with the international distress signal ‘S.O.S’. HMAS Sydney, being closest to the Cocos Islands, was sent to investigate.

The German landing party arrived on Direction Island just after dawn on 9th November 1914 to complete their mission- unaware that a distress signal had been made. Led by First Lieutenant Hellmuth von Mücke, the party of 50 men successfully seized the station and destroyed machinery, toppled the wireless mast, and cut two underwater cables (although one of them was a decoy). They were, however, unable to return to Emden before the conflict began.

At approximately 9:15 Emden spotted smoke on the horizon, which was initially thought to be Buresk. It was it not for further 15 minutes that it was realised that the approaching vessel was a warship. Von Müller recalled Von Mücke and his men, raised steam and cleared the ship for action, but was unable to wait for the landing party’s return, as the enemy warship (later identified as Sydney) was closing in. All ten of Emden’s gunlayers were ashore.

When Sydney came within range of Emden, Von Müller opened fire and made the first hits of the battle. Sydney came under heavy fire for 10 minutes, from about 9:40am. Fifteen hits were recorded but only five shells exploded. Here, Sydney sustained her only casualties of the conflict, with four killed and more than a dozen wounded.  

Hand-drawn map depicting the courses taken by the HMAS SYDNEY (blue) and SMS EMDEN (yellow) on 9 November 1914. 

Albert M Barker / 1914. ANMM Collection

Commanded by Captain John Glossop, Sydney was superior to Emden in speed, armour, and range of guns. Utilising these advantages, Glossop kept Sydney at a distance from the enemy ship, thus limiting Emden’s use of torpedos and reducing the effectiveness of her guns. Sydney was still able to strike Emden, returning fire and causing significant damage and causalities. Sydney scored over one hundred hits on Emden, damaging her steering gear, electrical system, and internal communications, and setting her on fire. This hindered Emden’s manoeuvrability and thereby increased Sydney’s firing accuracy. Emden  continued to fight, but casualties and shell damage meant firing became less frequent and accurate. Shells hit the Emden’s foremast and toppled all three funnels, choking the boilers and reducing the ship’s speed.  

In an effort to save the remainder of his crew, von Müller ran his ship on to the reef just south of North Keeling Island. At 11am the Emden was seen destroyed, with fires blazing. Sydney fired a further two salvos before leaving to pursue Buresk, which was found to have been scuttled by her crew. By the end of the battle, 34 of Emden's crew had died, 65 were wounded and 157 were captured and taken as prisoners of war. 

The Sydney-Emden battle was the Royal Australian Navy’s first ship-to-ship battle and first major victory at sea. Strategically, it removed a key German raider which posed a significant threat to shipping and communications in the Indian Ocean. In doing so, Sydney ensured a safe passage to the Middle East and Europe, meaning that no Australian soldiers would be lost to enemy action on their passage to the First World War.  

The conflict also mattered symbolically, and it became an important moment in the development of Australian naval tradition and national identity. Emden was well-known in both Germany and the British Empire, and its defeat in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands demonstrated that Australia’s young navy could defend itself.