Unsere Emden (1926)

At the beginning of the First World War, the story follows the German light cruiser Emden on its daring raiding campaign under the command of the experienced Captain von Müller. The ship sets out from the German base at Tsingtao. On its way toward home, the Emden first joins Count Spee’s squadron. Soon, however, von Müller receives orders to conduct an independent raiding campaign together with the supply ship Markomania. In the course of this mission, the Emden sinks several British merchant ships and the British troopship Indus in the Indian Ocean. An assignment eventually takes the cruiser to a harbor in Penang, Malaysia, where the Russian cruiser Zhemchug is anchored. The Emden sinks that ship too, on October 28, 1914. One day, the Emden encounters the Australian cruiser Sydney near the Cocos Islands. A battle ensues, in which the much larger and better-equipped Sydney, after initially missing its shots, disables the Emden. The Australians rescue the surviving German shipwrecked sailors and bring them aboard the Sydney. There, they are treated honorably.