Direction Island

This was picked up by HMAS Sydney, about 60 miles away, which set sail towards the Cocos Islands at its top speed of 25 and a half knots, equivalent to 47 kilometers per hour or 29 miles per hour.

A landing party of two officers and 38 sailors, commanded by Lieutenant Helmut von Mucha, was sent ashore on Direction Island, one of the larger Cocos coral islands on the atoll.

As the Emden spotted HMAS Sydney in the far distance at around 9.30am, there was not enough time to recover the landing party and the Emden abandoned them.

The Sydney then attacked with its more powerful guns, damaged the Emden's steering gear and range finders, vital in assessing the distance of an enemy ship and causing many casualties among the gun crews.

We'll meet these German POWs again in the next episode on the Singapore Mutiny.

The German wounded were taken to Australia for treatment.

A British sloop, the Cadmus, was sent to Direction Island to bury the sailors killed in the action.

Captain Carl von Muller was taken to England to be interned at a camp near Nottingham.