Wikipedia:Today's featured article/November 9, 2014

SMS Emden was the second and final member of the Dresden class of light cruisers built for the Imperial German Navy. Named for the town of Emden, she was completed in July 1909 at the Imperial Dockyard in Danzig, and spent most of her career with the German East Asia Squadron, based in Tsingtao, China. At the outbreak of World War I, Emden captured a Russian steamer and converted her into the commerce raider Cormoran. In October 1914, Emden launched a surprise attack on Penang, sinking the Russian cruiser Zhemchug and the French destroyer Mousquet. Emden's commander, Karl von Müller, then took her to raid the Cocos Islands, where he landed a contingent of sailors to destroy British facilities. On 9 November 1914, Emden was attacked by the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney, a more powerful ship, and seriously damaged. Müller ran his ship aground to prevent her from sinking. Out of a crew of 376, 133 were killed in the battle. Most of the survivors were taken prisoner, though the landing party commandeered an old schooner and eventually returned to Germany. Emden's wreck was quickly destroyed by wave action, but was not broken up for scrap until the 1950s. (Full article...)

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