The bombardment of Madras was an engagement of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, at Madras (now Chennai),

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The bombardment was initiated by the German

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...

''Emden'' at the outset of the war in 1914. With Captain Karl von Müller in command, on the night of 22 September 1914, SMS ''Emden'' quietly approached the city of Madras on the southeastern coast of the

Indian peninsula The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. As he later wrote, "I had this shelling in view simply as a demonstration to arouse interest among the Indian population, to disturb English commerce, to diminish English prestige." After entering the Madras harbour area, Müller illuminated six large

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

tanks belonging to the Burmah Oil Company with his

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

s, then fired at a range of 3,000 yards. After ten minutes of firing, ''Emden'' had hit five of the tanks and destroyed 346,000 gallons of fuel, and the cruiser then successfully retreated. Soon the word Emden entered the Tamil dictionary and was used to describe someone powerful, frightening and with an wicked intent. Emden Plaque Madras

Footnotes

References and external links

* *''The Last Corsair: The Story of The Emden'' by

Dan van der Vat Daniel Francis Jeroen van der Vat (28 October 1939 – 9 May 2019) was a journalist, writer and military historian, with a focus on naval history. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, Van der Vat grew up in the German- occupied Netherlands. He attende ...

, 1984. *''The Last Gentleman of War. The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden'' by R. K. Lochner,

Naval Institute Press The United States Naval Institute (USNI) is a private non-profit military association that offers independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national security issues. In addition to publishing magazines and books, the Naval Institute holds se ...

:. 1988. *''The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew'' by

Edwin Palmer Hoyt Edwin Palmer Hoyt (August 5, 1923 – July 29, 2005) was an American writer who specialized in military history. Until 1958, Hoyt worked in news media, after which he produced non-fiction works. Early life He was born in Portland, Oregon to the ...

, Globe Pequot Press, 2001 *
''Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I'' by John M. Taylor''New York Times'': "German Cruiser Emden Destroyed", November 11, 1914 a PDF of ''NYT'' report on ''Emden'' sinking along with some praise for its captain.''New York Times'': "Captain of Emden Killed?", a PDF of a ''NYT'' article dated April 13, 1921
*
Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today

*[https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/how-german-cruiser-emden-struck-terror-in-the-heart-of-the-british-empire-and-became-a-tamil-word/article30881258.ece How German cruiser ‘Emden’ struck terror in the heart of the British Empire, and became a Tamil word. The Hindu. February 23, 2020.]

* Frame, Tom. (2004)
''No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy''
Sydney: Allen & Unwin (paper) *Hoehling, A. A. '' Lonely Command a Documentary'' Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., 1957. *Hoyt, Edwin P. ''The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True World War I Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew''. The Lyons Press, 2001. . *Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince of ''Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden''. New York: G. Howard Watt, 1928. *Lochner, R. K. ''Last Gentleman-Of-War: Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden'' Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. . *McClement, Fred. ''Guns in paradise''. Paper Jacks, 1979. . *Mücke, Hellmuth von. ''The Emden-Ayesha Adventure: German Raiders in the South Seas and Beyond, 1914''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. . *Schmalenbach, Paul ''German Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979. . *Van der Vat, Dan. ''Gentlemen of War: The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden''. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984. *Walter, John ''The Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War One''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Madras, Bombardment of Naval battles of World War I involving Germany India in World War I Burmah-Castrol Conflicts in 1914 September 1914 events

Footnotes

References and external links

Further reading