Bombardment of Madras

The Bombardment of Madras was an engagement of World War I, at Madras (Chennai), British India. The bombardment was initiated by the German light cruiser Emden at the start 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. After entering the Madras harbor area and observing for a moment, Müller gave the order to engage at 9:30 pm, Emden opened fire at 3000 yards on the several large oil tanks within the harbor which belonged to the Burmah Oil Company.

Within the first 30 rounds, the oil tanks were in flames. After bombing the fuel tanks Emden moved onto a small merchant ship in harbor. The craft was quickly sunk by Emden's deck guns. The worst casualties experienced that night were from the merchant vessel, 26 of whose crew were injured. At least 5 of the sailors were killed on scene or died later of injuries. The action lasted half an hour, until 10:00 pm, by which time the British shore batteries had begun to respond. However, Emden slipped away unscathed. In all, 125 shells were fired by the Germans. Although the raid did little damage, it was a severe blow to British morale and thousands of people fled the city.

Madras was the only Indian city to come under attack by forces of the Central Powers during World War I.

References and external links

 * The Last Corsair: The Story of The Emden by Dan Van Der Vat, 1984. ISBN 0-586-06265-3
 * The Last Gentleman of War. The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden by R.K. Lochner, Naval Institute Press:. 1988. ISBN 0-87021-015-7
 * The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew by Edwin Palmer Hoyt, Globe Pequot Press, 2001 ISBN 978-1-58574-382-7
 * 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's report on Emden's sinking along with some praise for its captain.
 * New York Times: Captain of Emden Killed?, a PDF of an NYT article dated April 13, 1921
 * New York Times: Captain of Emden Killed?, a PDF of an NYT article dated April 13, 1921


 * Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today
 * World War I Naval Combat
 * Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I