SS Buresk (1914)

SS Buresk was a 4,337-ton steamship built by Richardson, Duck and Company, Thornaby-on-Tees for Burdick and Cook, London in 1914. She was captured by SMS Emden (1908) while on her way to Hong Kong with a cargo of coal. As a prize she was retained and used as a prison ship and collier. Under command of Lt-Cdr R. Klöpper, she coaled Emden near the Nicobar Islands on 26 October. While approaching the Cocos (Keeling) Islands to coal Emden again, she was chased by HMAS Sydney (1912) after Emden was sunk. She was in the process of being scuttled by her crew when boarded by a Sydney boarding party, finding that the inlet valves had been opened and irreparably damaged. She was later sunk by gunfire from Sydney.