The “Emden”

The cruiser SMS Emden was part of the German East Asia Squadron based at the Tsingtao in China during the First World War. Designed to be a commerce raider, attacking Allied merchant shipping rather than fleet battle action, she achieved much more than that under the command of her swashbuckling commander Kapitän zur See Karl Friedrich Max von Müller. From the outbreak of hostilities she began to attack the shipping lanes, vital to the Allies, sinking and capturing over 20 vessels in the first f